Inuyasha and The Dead
by Scarlet Heir V2.0
Summary: Kagome is home for the beginning of school, two days into the semester, she still has yet to make it to class. An American transfer student is moving in as she makes a dire prophesy. Within 24 hours, hell will come to Tokyo. As Takashi and his friends head in the direction of the Higurashi shrine. Rated for violence, and language.
1. Chapter 1: The Dead Walk

Hello fellow readers. Yes. I'm buying into the zombie craze. Yes. I'm adding Inuyasha to it. I thought to myself: Why not? It'll be fun. So here's the first chapter. If you like it, let me know. Any pointers: also, let me know. Creative criticism is welcome. I'm a returning author, so let my work speak for itself... Scarlet_Heir here. Back again.

…...

Kagome was frowning down at the papers Souta had brought home for her. Her school work from the first two days of school were already outrageous. Add to that the extra homework for the summer that she still hadn't done because she'd spent so much time in Sengoku-era and not enough in her own time. The only solace for this depressing fact was that she'd been given Inuyasha's word of honor, whatever that pertained to, that she would get to stay home for a whole month as school began. She smiled to herself at the thought of the friends she'd left behind in the Sengoku era. Sango, the demon hunter, with her giant hirakotsu, had promised to keep the others out of trouble. Her brother was currently free of Naraku's influence and was hanging out with her as they camped out near Kaede's house.

To top it all off, an American exchange student was due to arrive today. She would have to figure out how to hide the fact that she regularly spent time in Sengoku era Japan with a half demon and a group of demon hunters tracking down a psychopath with a penchant for shiny things a.k.a. Naraku.

Kagome shook her head, frowning again. The bell for the gate rang, making her jump a bit. It was a bit early for the student's arrival but it seemed about the right time. "Hello?" the voice rang out, clearly.

The girl at the gate was tall, slender, and had long, thick brown hair falling in waves past her shoulders. She smiled through thick glasses with golden brown eyes. Her duffel bag hung over her shoulder, the rolling suit case on the ground by her left, low heeled leather boot. Her skirt was just long enough to brush the knee-high boot's topmost edge. Her corset cut top was laced with a neon pink and her hair had a braid on the left side laced with a pink ribbon. "I guess I'm early... Name's Gabrielle." She said, smiling up at Kagome's image in the gate.

"Hello, Gabrielle, I'm Higurashi Kagome. Welcome to Japan. I'm sorry noone was there to meet you when you got off of the plane." Kagome said, practicing her English.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I enjoyed the walk and the atmosphere is refreshing. I hope we can be good friends during my stay." Gabrielle said, bowing formally.

"Come in, please." Kagome said, smiling as she held open the gate. "I'll take your bag."

"Nah, I got it. Thank you though. There's something in there very precious to me and I'd rather keep it with me, Higurashi-san." She said, a small smile on her face.

Kagome nodded and lead the way into the house, her mind racing at the odd statement by Gabrielle. "This is the main house." She said, pointing to the residence. Then she pointed to the well house and the God Tree. "That is the old well house. It's unsafe in there so please stay out. The God Tree is there, and behind it is the family shrine."

"Do you mind if I pay my respects to your ancestors before we go further?" Gabrielle asked.

Kagome stood there for a moment, astonished at the girl's unwavering directness. "Um... Ok." Gabrielle bowed to her, then walked to the God Tree, placed her palm against it, and closed her eyes.

A wind seemed to whip up around her, a blue-white aura surrounding the girl and the tree. The white from the girl, the blue from the tree. She seemed to be asking for entrance, asking for acceptance, and then the tree, a solid aura, seemed to open, to accept her aura, melding it with it's own. Kagome gaped. This girl was a Miko. A shaman or a witch from America of all places. "Your ancestors are glad."

"The ancestors are in the God Tree?" Kagome muttered to herself.

"Is your family home?" the girl asked, her voice was filled with power and, suddenly turning around, her eyes were a solid, glowing white.

"Uh... Yeah. Grandpa is in the shrine, Mom is in the kitchen, and Souta is in his room... I think. Why?" Kagome asked, the frown on her face changing to an expression of fear.

"Because hell has come to Tokyo. Hell has come, and you'll need your family. Your family and this one. All of your family. Both from the before time and from now. Hell arrives with the dawn. The Dawn arrives tomorrow. Prepare, Miko. Prepare and pray." The girl suddenly collapsed, power leaving her eyes, her voice, and the power leaving seemed to drain her of her strength. Kagome forgot her fear, ran to try to catch the girl, and watched her fall so slowly time seemed to stop.

"Gabrielle?" Kagome asked, reaching the fallen girl's side. "Gabrielle!" she shouted, turning the girl over.

"It's ok." the girl whispered through pale lips that were mere moments away from the red blush they were before. "It happens all the time." she smiled weakly. "The doctor says it's my heart." she tried to sit up, paused, then continued on her way up to her feet.

"Do you know what happened?" Kagome asked, her hand on the girl's arm.

"Black out spell. They get me sometimes when I've over-exerted myself." Gabrielle explained in English.

"Maybe you should lie down." Kagome suggested.

"I'm ok now. But I would like a drink of water." Gabrielle suggested, holding on to her duffel. Surprisingly it hadn't left her hand since she had come in the gate. Even through the communion with the God tree.

"Souta! Mom! Grandpa!" Kagome shouted, unaware that the three were making their respective ways to the God tree under which she and the American stood. 

"Kagome, is this Gabrielle?" Souta asked, looking up into the face of the girl beside Kagome.

"Hai. I am Gabrielle." The girl said. Bowing in turn to Souta, Kagome's Mom, and Grandpa. They each introduced themselves to the transfer student.

"Mom, can you take Gabrielle to the kitchen for some water please? I've got to check on something in the shrine with Grandpa." Kagome quickly handed the girl off to her mom and grabbed her grandfather, dragging him toward the family shrine.

"Grandpa.." she began as she got out of ear-shot.

"Kagome, this girl..." He said at the same time.

"What's up with the power show?" Kagome asked, frowning, hands on her hips.

Kagome's grandfather held up his hands, waving them in front of himself like a shield. "Kagome, I know I should have told you before, but the girl is an "Earth Witch" from America. She recently was in an accident, and needed to escape from her home in the States." He told her.

"She said that hell had come to earth. To Japan. And would be here with the sunrise. And what's with that bag?" She demanded, heading toward the well house now.

"What?" Grandpa asked.

"I'm getting Inuyasha." She said, prying open the lock to the door.

"Stop, Kagome. You are the Miko. And this girl, can you trust what she said?" Grandpa said, pulling her away from the well and toward the house.

The night went by peacefully. Kagome dreamed of Inuyasha in his fire-rat gi. Across the hall, Gabrielle dreamed of blood and teeth rending flesh; of walking through fields of the dead and the risen, who feasted on those lucky enough to flee. Golden eyes flashed at her before turning feral red, blue eyes turned milky white, black eyes rolled up and away from life. Just as a scream rent the night, Gabrielle breathed a sigh.

Screams filled the streets in central Tokyo. It was barely past daybreak. Gutteral moans, the gruesome sound of flesh forcefully parting from flesh, the gnashing of teeth, the sounds of gluttony, the screams of death, the almost pitiful sound of children crying out in terror, hundreds of thousands of feet, both shod and unshod trampled those unlucky enough to trip or be pushed. The dead racing after the living falling upon the trampled and the running alike. Those bitten rose again to find fresh victims.

In a school on the other side of the river, Saeko Bushushima was mercy killing a student in front of Miss Marikawa, the school nurse. Kohta Hirano and Sayo Takagi were crouched in a hallway one floor above, experimenting on their fellow dead students.

On the observation roof, Hisashi is convulsing in agony as he dies a horrible, bloody death while Rei and Takeshi look on in mute horror. On the grounds of the school, humans scream, and Others bite and chase and eat, gorging themselves on former classmates and peers and teachers alike.

True to Gabrielle's word, Hell had come to Earth.

* * *

There's your first chapter. Do you think I should continue, or just leave it as a one-shot?

Madness, my friend, is all around you. -me.

"We're all mad here, Alice, even you." -Cheshire Cat _Alice In Wonderland_


	2. Chapter 2: Encouter With the Dead

A couple of quick references:

1: Sengoku-era: The Inuyasha group's original time line in feudal Japan.

2: Yes, the Kagome storyline is showing her in High school, I am aware that she is in Jr. High, but as the story needs it, she is due to begin High school at Fujimi High School. (HOTD)

3: Yes, I will be turning some well loved secondary, characters into zombies as well as one or two main characters. To find out who they will be, you will just have to watch for them. :)

And thanks for the reviews, much appreciated. Here's your story:

* * *

Inuyasha sat in the God tree, bored, his eyes unfocused as they rested on the well. It had only been two days, and he'd promised Kagome that she could stay home for a full month, but here he was, again, sitting in the tree, watching the well, waiting on her to come back. He missed her scent, her smile, but most of all he missed her and he was _bored._

The necklace around his throat tingled, like she'd 'sat' him again. But she couldn't do that from her world. A strange scent was coming from the well.

Usually he could get a bit of her scent if he stayed near it, but today it smelled like rot. A sickly sweet scent of unburied bodies. Miasma was not in evidence, the plants around him thrived and the people around him were not ill. He did not sense any demons nearby, so it could only be coming from the well.

Frowning again, he walked toward the well, determined to jump down this end and into her time. He'd find out what was going on, whether she wanted him there or not.

Kagome woke late, Gabrielle was sitting at the breakfast table in her school uniform, Kagome debated telling her that she wasn't going to school again today, that she'd have to go by herself, when Souta came running into the kitchen.

"Kagome.." he said, stopping to breathe, hands on his knees. "TV" he gasped.

Kagome ran to the living room, flipping on the television.

"I repeat, we have reports from all over Tokyo. A mysterious illness has begun spreading. It began sometime around dawn near the center of the city and has spread outward. The SDF and American Special Forces have quarantined the city and are transporting patients to the closest hospitals. Please stay in your homes and avoid contact with strangers, especially those who appear sick or injured. This disease seems to be spread through touch with infected individuals. I repeat..."

Kagome switched stations. More of the same. Again, the same story a different face.

Gabrielle stood, looking over Kagome's shoulder, her hand covering her mouth in horror. She turned and ran upstairs.

Kagome turned off the television, shaking her head. She had the feeling that she would need help, very soon.

"Souta, where's mom?" Kagome demanded, turning to her little brother.

"She's at work. I tried calling, the line is busy." She worked at the hospital, very close to the center of Tokyo. "Grandpa is going to get her." Her stomach flipped at the thought.

"Did he take his cell phone?" She asked.

Souta produced said phone from his pocket. Muttering a curse word, she turned away from him as Gabrielle came down the stairs, duffel bag in hand.

"Do you have a dojo room?" She asked, barely out of breath.

"Um... yeah. Why?"

"Because we need this set up and to get ready." Gabrielle said, motioning for Kagome to lead the way.

"What is going on?" Souta asked, frowning.

"The dead walk the earth, and they are hungry." Gabrielle said, her voice the one of power Kagome had heard the night before.

Gabrielle stumbled toward the front of the house, drawn toward the front gate. She snarled as she turned away from where Kagome was leading and raced to the well house, pulling a handgun from her bag as she shouldered the door open.

"Gabrielle!" Kagome shouted, confused and somewhat worried.

"There's an intruder in your well house." She snarled, bringing the weapon to bear on Inuyasha's head as he landed from a jump from the well in front of the girl.

Inuyasha, sensing a threat, immediately bared his fangs and turned his hands into claws. Just as he leapt toward the girl, Kagome shouted "Sit!" flooring the hanyou as she knocked the gun toward the ceiling, away from him. The gun didn't go off as she'd feared, instead Gabrielle frowned at her, then at the hanyou before she shrugged and put the gun behind her skirt.

"What the hell Kagome!?" Inuyasha's muffled yell came from the floor.

"Don't touch each other. Inu, this is Gabrielle, Gabrielle, this is Inuyasha." Kagome explained, stepping between the two.

"Hi." Gabrielle said, bowing slightly, eyes still narrowed in suspicion. "I'll go lock the gate then." She muttered as she turned away and out of the well house.

"That girl, what is she?" Inuyasha said, face finally off of the floor as he lifted himself up off of the floor. "And what's wrong with her face?"

"She's an American." Kagome said, staring at the empty doorway. "She's a witch...I think." Kagome held her hand out for Inuyasha to take. She was afraid. He took her hand.

"Kagome, what's going on?" Inuyasha asked as he walked after the strange 'American'. "And what is that horrible stench. Like rotting meat left in the sun."

"She said the Dead are walking, and they're hungry." She told him, quietly. "How can the dead walk?" She asked him.

"Um, more important question, Kagome. How can dead humans be hungry? They're dead." Inuyasha asked, looking sideways at her.

"Kagome!" Souta's shout came from the front yard, by the gate. "Yuka is here!" The girl was standing at the gate, wavering, like seaweed in a tide. Her brown hair was a bit mussed, and she was in her uniform, but it was dirty and torn. Dirt smeared her cheek, which was scuffed.

Concerned, Kagome approached her friend. "Yuka?" She asked, tenatively.

The girl was silent, edging toward the gate. Unusually silent. "Yuka?" Kagome moved to reach out to her friend, and Inuyasha stopped her. Grabbing her arm.

"Kagome, back away." He demanded.

"What are you talking about, Inuyasha? She's hurt. We need to help her!" Kagome shouted, trying to shake the hanyou off of her arm and open the gate for her friend.

"Kagome, something is wrong." Inuyasha muttered, keeping his voice low. "Back away Kagome."

"We have to help her!" Kagome fought him, trying to get to Yuka. "I'm going to help her!"

"She is beyond your help." Gabrielle said, calmly, her hands fastening the gate closed. "Look at her eyes, Kagome. She's not here."

"She stinks.. Like rot." Inuyasha covered his nose with one clawed hand.

"What are you talking about?!" Kagome demanded.

"Miko, use your eyes and your second sight. She's dead. She's been dead for an hour, maybe more." Gabrielle's voice was cold, almost clinical.

"She's not dead!" Kagome screamed.

Gabrielle slapped the girl, frowning, and told her to quiet down. "You need to shut up." She told her. "Cool it." She reverted to her native English. "The dead walk and are hungry."

The four at the gate were clustered together, what was left of Yuka, the back of her thigh, slightly hidden under her skirt was a human sized bite taken out of the flesh, it trailed blood just outside of the sight line of those inside of the gate.

The city began to burn, and Miss Marikawa, Kohta, Saya, Saeko, Rei, Takashi, sat in the teacher's lounge, watching the television as it ran through the news reports. Moans echoed through the halls of the school, hauntingly desperate, gutteral, even sensual. Saeko stood calmly by the door, practice sword at the ready, Kohta stood facing the second doorway, nail gun at the ready.

"We need to get out of here. Where should we go though?" Saeko asked.

"We need to find our families." Takeshi said, motioning to himself and Rei. He snarled as one of "them" bumped into the wall of the office.

"How are we supposed to find them then? Just wander around an infected Tokyo looking for family members?" Saya said, her pink ponytails bouncing around her head as she shook it.

"How about we head up to the old shrine on this end of town before we gind our families? It will be a great way to find out what places are over infected so we can avoid them as best we can." Kohta said, finger in the air.

"Where would that be, fatso?" Saya demanded, turning toward him.

He pointed to the map near the door, at the Higurashi shrine. "There. It's a high point and should be able to easily defend because it has a gate around the whole perimeter."

And like that, their temporary destination was set.

Define normal. -me.


	3. Chapter 3: The Gathering and the Dead

Thanks for the reviews. Time for more story :).

Takashi took a deep breath as he began to prepare to move the blockade on the door. The fetid smell of death leaked through the seams, the stench overpowering his need for sustenance. Breakfast missed, and now lunch. Unless they got away from the dead soon, he didn't think he'd eat at all for the rest of his life. Rei was beside him, holding a handkerchief over her mouth and nose, he debated on following her example but decided he needed his hands free more than he needed his senses spared.

Kohta was standing at the other door, making as much noise as possible as they got ready to leave through the opposite door. Sound attracted the creatures, so sound would be used to attract them away from where they were really exiting.

"Hirano, this is getting old." Saya all but growled. "Your fat ass could make plenty of noise by yourself." She muttered as she banged a chair against a desk that was in the confusion of the mess blocking the door.

"But I can't make enough noise for five people." Kohta said, smiling at her. She was so smart.

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Saeko asked quietly, coming over to their side of the room.

"And what does that mean?" Saya demanded, hands on her hips.

"It means if you want to get out of here without getting eaten, you need to help out instead of whining." Saeko said, hand going to her practice sword as the moaning outside got louder and the door began to bulge slightly.

A hand, mottled red and grey, veins bulging, burst through the screen of the door Kohta and Saya were manning.

Inuyasha was standing, watching, from the well house roof as the strange "American" used a broom handle to knock away a dead human.

"What is going on here?" He muttered to himself.

"Grandpa!" Souta shouted, rushing toward the opening of the gate.

"Souta, Kagome, stay where you are, I'll not come in." He shouted back.

"What are you talking about Grandpa?" Souta demanded, unlatching the temporarily cleared gate. "You come in or I come get you!"

Kagome's grandpa came through the gate so that Souta would shut it. "I found your mother..." Kagome's grandfather said, hanging his head. "She was one of 'them'." Kagome's heart dropped into her stomach. 

"What do you mean 'Them'?!" Kagome demanded, leaving Souta and Gabrielle to guard the gate as she helped her grandfather to a seat just inside of the gate. "What are they?"

"I don't know, Kagome. I really don't know. They die, then they come back, it's like some bad movie. On of them bit me..." He winced as he showed her his leg, human teeth marks shown plainly on his leg, which dribbled blood. Kagome grabbed a clean cloth, pressed it against her grandfather's leg. "I'll be ok. You two need to defend the shrine until you can leave. Stay until it calms down, then leave town. Head toward the mountain or back to the Sengoku Era."

Inuyasha frowned, sniffing the air. He knew something was wrong with the bite on Kagome's grandfather, but he couldn't figure out what.

A commotion at the gate drew his attention away from Kagome and her Grandfather. "Die!" Gabrielle shouted as she shoved one of her twin kodachi through the eye of one of the walking dead.

Dead people apparently felt no pain. Hurting them elsewhere did no good, but damage to the brain sent them down permanently. He thought about how much he wanted the rest of the group with them. A group that knew how to fight together and how to survive.

He brooded on it for a while, watching his friend's brother and 'guest' guarding the gate. Looking out on the local area, he saw more coming, a lot more. Whether they were following Kagome's grandfather or following the noise that Souta and Gabrielle were making he was unsure of, but they were headed this way.

He jumped down and came up behind Gabrielle and Souta, Tetsuaiga ready in its' scabbard. He wondered if the demon sword would work against dead humans.

Edging close to the gate, he pulled the sword from it's scabbard, it didn't transform. Cursing profusely, he slammed it home and lengthened his claws, preparing for a bloody and vicious confrontation.

"Kagome, were are the jewel shards?" Inuyasha asked, turning slightly.

"They're in my bag, why?" She demanded, confused.

"I want to use them to bring the others." he nodded toward the main house.

"Ok. Go get them." Kagome said, pointing toward the door.

"Kagome, that won't work without support from this side." Gabrielle shouted, pulling her short sword from the skull of the dead girl at the gate and pushing her away at the same time. "Souta can you man the gate for a few minutes?" Gabrielle asked, turning her head to the side. "If you keep quiet, they should stay pretty scarce."

"You seem to know a lot about these things..." Souta said, frowning at the American.

"I've encountered them before, a long time ago. They are attracted to sound and the scent of blood. They are all but blind as soon as the brain stops processing visual information, which is as soon as they are dead. There's a period of manic activity just before death, watch for it. And all bites kill." She finished very quietly. "Damage the brain, sever the spinal cord, or decapitate and you disable or destroy them permanently. Heart, lungs, liver, guts, none of it matters. Sever muscle groups at the shoulder to keep an arm from moving, at the hip for legs, at the neck for complete mobility lockdown. They can still bite you until you damage the brain, so be careful of those that can't move, wear thick shoes and carry a melee weapon." She outlined it briefly as she demonstrated on a zombie for Inuyasha and for Souta. Kagome would be brought up to speed when she was done.

"So, grandpa... he's..." Souta began, stopped with a sob.

"Dead." Gabrielle said gently, nodding to Souta. "I'm sorry."

Souta shook his head, sniffing, then he looked at the hanyou, eyes sparkling. "Inuyasha, can you get the others here?"

"I can. But we only have a few shards of the jewel." He said, frowning.

"Bring those who you think will make the most difference in a close combat with little to no noise." Gabrielle counseled. "I'll lower the guards for those with the shards in the backpack. It'll only take a minute and then I'll be back at the gate, help Souta hold off the ones that show up until I'm done, then you can go get your friends." She said, grabbing her bag as she headed toward the well house again.

Outside,beside the house, Kagome pillowed her grandfather's head on her lap, tears rolled down her face as she watched him succumb to another fit of bloody coughs. "Kagome, survive." the old man managed between coughs. "Keep your brother safe and survive. When it's less crazy, evacuate." he coughed again before his eyes clouded over and he lay, breathless and still.

Yup. About average for an update. I've got the next three chapters planned out.

I've been told I bathe in the blood of my creations. -me


	4. Chapter 4: Escape and Dead Infiltration

Chapter 4: Escape and Dead Infiltration

Thanks for the reviews, glad to be of service :)

"Takashi!" Saya whispers viciously as she breaks the arm reaching through the broken pane as she watches Takashi and Saeko move the other barricade. She had the impression that the noise she and Hurano made was a bit too effective. Probably attracting every one of them within a three floor radius.

"I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying." Takashi muttered under his breath as he and Saeko moved a desk. He shoved the last obstacle out of the way with as little noise as possible before checking the window in the door. The hallway was clear of any of 'them'.

"Ready?" he asked the room, bat over his shoulder, his hand clenched, knuckles blanching with suppressed tension.

"Let's go!" Hirano said, all but abandoning his position in front of the rear barricade. The group ran out of the room as the barricade gave way, Saeko shutting the door behind them and locking it with a chair under the handle. A delaying tactic at best, but it would have to do.

The group of five, four students and a school nurse in training, ran as silently as they could down the hall, down a flight of stairs, and across the school's main building.

A scream broke the eerie silence. They glanced at each other, then, headed in the direction of the scream. It was the stairwell to the first floor. A set of students were making a last stand. Hirano shot one of the dead as Takashi clubbed a second. Saeko took out two more, and Rei took out the last one. All of this happened in near perfect silence. Sound was their enemy now, just as much as 'they' were.

"We're getting out of here, are you guys ready to go?" Takashi asked the group in an almost whisper.

"Komuro! Why are you inviting them?" Saya demanded in a whisper.

Takashi looked at her like she'd grown a second head for a split second, frowned to himself, then shook his head. "We've got a better chance of staying alive if we stay together." Hirano observed.

"Plus, we're already taking the micro-bus, it's not as if it's not going to hold the extra people." Miss Marikawa said, finger to her lips, chest heaving.

"Good points..." Saya muttered, then took a deep breath, "they react to sound. If we stay silent we should be invisible to them and be able to get out of the main entrance." she said, pointing.

"And who exactly is going to test out that little theory? You?" Rei asked. Saya blanched.

"I'll do it. Busujima, can you watch my back?" Takashi asked Saeko as he hefted the bat.

"I'll snipe from here if you need it, let's do this quick, ok?" Hirano said, readying the nail gun.

Takashi nodded at his glasses wearing gun fanatic friend before heading down the stairs. The room was almost empty, but there were enough of 'them' to make him pause every few steps. Finally, coming within kissing distance of the walking putrefaction that was the walking dead, he bent down and scooped up a shoe, which he promptly threw against the far wall away from the door before quickly walking to the door and opening it.

Outside, with a fresh breeze coming in, the smell was more tolerable. Less like a physical presence and more like a vague feeling of unease.

The others followed, the last of the new group, as he stepped down onto the last step of the ground floor slipped and fell, his weapon banging against the railing with a hollow but excruciatingly loud clang.

"Run!" The shout was torn from Takashi's lips as they raced toward the micro buses.

***** ***** ***** Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tokyo *** **** ***** *****

Inuyasha leaped down into the well, the aqua blue of the portal between times swirled around him, lights became brighter, and then he was at the bottom of the well in Sengoku-era Japan.

He jumped from the bottom of the well and ran toward Kaede's house.

Kouga was smelling something horrible. That horrible smell pervaded the area, destroying his delicate sense of smell. He followed the noxious cloud, suspecting Naraku as the source. He was very surprised when he found the sacred well as the source of the stench, and Inuyasha, whose back was to him as he raced toward Kaede's home.

"Kagome!" The thought immediately came to mind, and he jumped down into the well. He was immediately surrounded by swirling shades of blue from light, sky blue, to dark, midnight blue, to a deep royal blue of deep seas. When he landed, the smell was worse, so much worse. He jumped out of the well, opened the strange door, and walked out of the building that hid the well. Kagome was crying over an older man that looked dead, and smelled worse.

Just as he reached out to her, his love, the body on the ground twitched.

"Kagome!?" He shouted in warning as he ran forward.

"Kouga?" She looked up at him with tears streaming from her dark eyes, completely startled.

Inuyasha handed Miroku, Sango, Kilala and Shippou each a jewel shard, leaving three with Kaede to give one each to whomever she thought could help. He put out a call for help among the demons, hoping Kouga and maybe a few others would get the call, and they raced toward the well.

As each of them went through the well in turn, Inuyasha waiting to go last impatiently, Sesshomaru watched from a small distance.

"Brother, what are you doing, and what is that smell?" Sesshomaru asked himself aloud. He'd been nearby when he had gotten the call to arms his brother had sent out among the psychic link between demons.

Inuyasha glanced in his direction momentarily as he looked around, sensing someone watching him. He had no time for this... he thought to himself before leaping down after Shippou.

Miroku, who had landed first, was trying to convince Sango that she should go first. Sango, in turn, was threatening the lecherous monk with Hirakotsu, and her fist. Shippou was halfway up the well wall, and Kilala, in small fox form, was on his back. "If you guys would stop arguing you would get up a whole lot faster." Inuyasha growled, grabbing both by the top and jumping from the well with them, landing just in front of Shippou.

"These are dead humans we are facing." He said, motioning to Tetsuaiga laying uselessly in it's sheath. "Tetsuaiga won't transform. So it's claws and teeth. If you are bitten, you become one of them" He gave the group a quick version of events, preparing them for fighting other, dead humans.

Unnoticed to him and the others, the well had activated a final time, letting Sesshomaru pass into the world of the future. He listened to his brother's explanation, frowned, and waited until everyone else had left the well building before leaping out onto the dirt floor. His clawed feet bare, his snarl as he caught an even stronger whiff of decay. It was close to the miasma that surrounded the half demon Naraku.

"Kagome, get away!" Souta shouted, pushing his sister away from their grandfather. No. From what remained behind inside of their grandfather. "He's dead. We have to finish him." Souta took the short spear in his left hand, prepared for the worst moment of his life, and jammed the point into his grandfather's eye.

The eye bulged before exploding in a mess of reddish jelly like fluid, the eye bursting, the delicate bones behind the optic orb broke easily in the wake of the wooden spear, the tissues behind them parted and scrambled as Souta applied the force to destroy his grandfather's brain. He sobbed as he pushed the old man off of the stick, his mind wrapping around the fact that his grandfather was now dead at his hand.

No. It wasn't his grandfather. It was one of 'them'. The hungry dead. He wasn't a person any more. Just one of the many, many dead.

888 888 888 888 888 88 888 888 888 888

AN: Yup. It's gonna be a gorefest folks. :)

Insanity is a matter of opinion. -me


	5. Chapter 5: Running With the Dead

I know, I know, it's a rapid response update week, unusual for me. At least with anything I'm not currently watching... (Currently not seen a single episode of Inuyasha since I was 16. 6 weeks for HOTD) But I keep thinking of the story line, and thus, here you have me, writing again. :) I guess that's a good thing for my readers. I have a habit of plot lining before writing, so my little notebook I carry around work has been the subject of much speculation and amusement. (I never leave it anywhere and no one ever sees what's in it.)

Anyways, enough of my weirdness, here's your story:

********* ************* ******** Takashi and Co. ************ *********** ******

The scream of the male student who was last in line startled Saya out of her daze. Her head snapped around of it's own accord as the boy was bitten to death. The girl he'd saved turned back for him, Saya grabbed for the girl's arm, pulling her toward the bus. "We need to go. You can't help him once he's been bitten!" She shouted at the girl.

"It doesn't matter." The girl mumbled, jerking her arm away before running back to the doomed boy.

"I understand..." Miss Marikawa murmured, "If the whole world is like this... what's the point? What's the point of fighting to survive if there's nothing to live for? I'd rather die with the person I love."

"Shut UP!" Saya demanded. "That's not helping anything!"

"Um, guys, I don't mean to be rude, but we're attracting a lot of attention." Hirano interrupted.

"How the hell do you get off interrupting me?!" Saya screamed at him.

"I don't know, really, 'cause I really like the sound of your voice." He said, disarmingly, smiling at her.

Slightly taken aback, she started to say something else when Takashi yelled over at them. "Guys, the bus!"

All were on the bus except for Takashi and Saeko when Saeko told him to head into the bus. Before he could climb the stairs, they heard the sound of running feet. A crowd of students and a teacher were heading their way. The teacher, Mr. Shido, left a foul taste in more mouths than one of the students on the bus, and as he left a student behind to die at the hands of the monsters, he brought even more unpleasantness upon himself.

"You will regret this, Takashi. Don't let him come." Rei shoited at him. Takashi shook his head.

"We can't just leave them here."

"Yes, we can!" She tried to shove him out of her way to get to the front of the bus, but by then it was too late, the students and, consequently, Mr. Shido were on the stairs, racing onto the bus.

Takashi made Miss Marikawa wait until they were on the bus. Then, as she pushed the pedal down for the bus to go, she hit a dead student. Flinching at the impact, bile rose in her throat. "They're not alive anymore." She muttered to herself. "They're not people any more.." she cried out, hitting two more, after the third, she cried out "They're not Human any more!" The bus went up, over the small hump at the gate, She slammed through the front gate and out into the relatively empty street.

Again she cried out, "They're not HUMAN Any More!" and the bus sped toward town.

***** At the Higurashi Compound***************

Sesshomaru, frowning, his white boa drifting in the breeze, stood atop the God Tree. Upon the breeze drifted the screams of the dying, the stench of the dead, and of the hungry, walking dead. They smelled off, different from normal dead humans. Those he'd smelled plenty of. These dead smelled like rot and miasma and blood.

8*8

"Kagome, I'm sorry, but it had to be done." Souta shook his head, holding his sister's head. Miroku and Sango were holding the gate. Kouga was standing by at the back of the compound, waiting on Kagome to calm down. Inuyasha was wary of the miko as well.

"I know, damn it!" She screamed, finally. "The bitten turn. They will kill us all if we don't kill them first."

"Kagome-kun, be quiet. I know it's hard right now, but quiet is what's kept us alive this far." Gabrielle stepped in, slapping the miko hard across the top of her head. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to get her attention. "Inside of this compound, we are safe for the moment, but only so long as we stay _quiet_." The last word was hissed in Kagome's face.

"Damn it, don't you think that I know that?" Kagome demanded, holding her head where the girl had cuffed her.

"I think you needed some sense slapped into you before you got us all killed, miko." Gabrielle said, backing off. She stalked away from the now not-hysterical girl, motioning toward Kouga to gather the remains of the girl's grandfather.

"Get rid of that. Outside of the gate. We don't need the extra risk of a decomposing body and we have no time to dig a grave." He came forward at her direction, confused by the commanding nature of the brunette beauty.

"Where outside of the gate?" He asked, confused, he'd been as far as the walls, but no further. Do you see that building, the one with the orange spiral near the top?" She asked, pointing toward the setting sun.

"Yeah." He responded, frowning.

"You have those shards in your legs, run with him to that building, place him on the roof. If and when we have the time and ability to retrieve him to give him a proper burial we will." She nodded toward him, then the building again, before she walked away from the wolf demon. She'd effectively taken charge in leu of the Miko's breakdown.

Gabrielle had the feeling that it would get much, much worse before it got any better.

"Gabrielle?" Shippou cried out from the roof. "There's a lot of them coming this way and the sun is going down.." Shippou trailed off, he was looking toward the Shinbetsu bridge area.

"Everybody, circle up, time to discuss tactics." Gabrielle called. As she made a circle up motion old settlers in the west used, she headed toward the well house, and, coincidentally the God Tree upon which perched the demon Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha and Shippou stood by the gate, listening to the group meeting. "I need to know strengths and weaknesses, Kilala needs to stay in small form and scout, maybe Shippou too. It will keep us well informed about what's going on nearby." She looked at each of her team in turn. "We'll start with me." She said, quite bluntly.

"I'm a 16 year old honor student from the United States. I've studied Japanese and Mandarin Chinese in my spare time since I was little. I've been battling demons and their kin since I was 13. I came to Tokyo after encountering a plague brought by human means, most people know it as the current pandemic. I had to kill my neighbors and my own parents. My little sister was bitten, she bit me, when she died, and I killed her just as she broke skin. I cut out the tissue with a holy blade and nearly lost the arm in the process." At this she pulled up her sleeve to show the gory, disturbing image of her left arm.

This gained her gasps of expected horror and revulsion. "The only reason I didn't die was because of the holy blade. The hand works, but tires easily. I have half the stamina that I used to in that hand, which is twice that of a normal human. I'm a descendant of a Native American witch doctor, who was my guide until this plague started breaking. My physical weakness is my arm, my emotional weakness is young children, my sister was five. I can use an American long sword, a Japanese katana, the wakazachi, the kodachi, and the spear. I've trained in martial arts since I was little, mostly street fighting." She ended the small speech by puling her shirt collar away from her neck.

"This is the demon mark from the last demon I banished. An inu demon. You, up there in the tree, might as well come down. You can't hide forever." She said, looking strait up at an astonished Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru..." Inuyasha snarled as his brother dropped from the tree's upper branches. He'd been so overwhelmed by the dead scent that he'd completely missed his brother's scent.

"I came because you called." Sesshomaru said as means of explanation. "I thought you would notice me before the human." He arched an eyebrow at the hanyou.

Inuyasha's face turned red, his eyes went dark, and his hand formed into a claw as he prepared to strike his brother. Kagome had the good sense to stop him with a well timed "sit".

Inuyasha ate dirt and grumbled the whole time as Sesshomaru stood there, seemingly unaffected.

"Kagome." Sesshomaru said by way of greeting, then nodded to the American girl. "And you as well, Gabrielle." He moved his ever-present boa to the side, exposing the missing limb on his left side. "I also have a handicap, though it does not mean much. I'm not human, I'm Inu Youkai." He released the boa to cover his missing limb.

"Sesshomaru-sama, lord of the Inu. Pleasure making your acquaintance, again. Although, I'm sure you don't remember it as it is well into your future and you are quite a bit older in my time. You have watched over me from a young age, my mother's great grandmother used to travel with you." Gabrielle smiled at him. "Rin-sama, my great great grandmother, told me of you from her death bed. She told me to tell you "Rin says hello and she misses her Sesshomaru-sama." Gabrielle bowed low, then stood up strait, smiling at her mentor. "I think you should get rid of the Boa, though. If these creatures get a hold of it, you're as good as bitten."

Sesshomaru studied the girl for a moment, recognizing the blood of the girl that had saved him running through her veins, and smiled slightly. Rin-chan was always smiling that way. "As you say." He acquiesced and tossed the boa into one of the limbs of the god tree.

"Sango, that weapon of yours looks like it would be good for a large enemy or a large group but not up close fighting." Gabrielle pointed out. Hirakotsu was summarily propped against the wall. "Inuyasha, if your sword won't transform, you can't really use it, take one of the human swords." Inuyasha moved the sword from his father to his back, and then grabbed the scabbard she tossed at him.

"Miroku, your monk staff will work fine for close fighting, but what about when you're surrounded?" Gabrielle asked the monk,

"I'll use my wind tunnel." He said simply holding up his bound fist.

Gabrielle nodded, "Fair enough." then she turned to Kagome. "Kagome, you know the long bow, do you have any close-fighting skills?" She asked the miko.

"I have the holy palm.." Kagome said, looking at her own hand.

"Keep a knife or short sword on you from now on, ok?" Gabrielle said, tossing a short sword at the girl.

"We need a rotating guard duty for the gate and the wall. One person on the roof, two on the gate." Gabrielle pointed toward the front gate. "Kouga, you and Shippou will be runners, Kilala should be held in reserve for big mobs of those creatures. Otherwise, we should get some sleep. It'll be a long day tomorrow, a very long day."

They drew lots for two hour rotating guard duty. Sango and Souta, Kagome and Inuyasha, Kouga and Miroku, Sesshomaru and Gabrielle, while Kilala and Shippou would keep an eye out from the roof as a heads up. Taking turns throughout the night. 

**88**88**

Shortly before bed, there was a small call from the well house. It was Kaede, Sango's brother, Kohaku, and the half-horse demon Jinenji. They drew the lot for the middle of the night, Kohaku and Jinenji together, and Kaede providing medical help when needed, and as a lookout to switch out with the two tiny demons.

"Ok people, let's get some sleep. Remember, we switch off every two hours until dawn. If you start to fall asleep, do what you have to and wake the next team. Everyone keep weapons at the ready, both long range and short range. It's going to be a very long day tomorrow."

Her words, as usual, would prove to be prophetic.

**** AN****

Yup. Cliffie. Yes, I'm following the original HOTD plot with a little bit of literary freedom until I take a sharp right turn and veer off course completely.

Review, it makes me feel like you care. ^.^

Have a great night/morning everyone, this writer is off to bed.

"You can deny angels exist, Convince ourselves they can't be real. But they show up anyway, at strange places and at strange times. They can speak through any character we can imagine. They'll shout through demons if they have to. Daring us, challenging us to fight." -Sweet Pea _Sucker Punch_

You say I'm an angel. The question is, what kind? -me.


	6. Chapter 6: Dead of NIght

I know, I know, I can't leave this bloody story alone. Personally, I think it's the gore. The combination of well loved characters from a childhood anime combined with another newly found (for me at least) anime in a world that I have always adored. I've always enjoyed reading, writing, and drawing the graphic violence of zombies and other things strait out of nightmares. I frequently have zombie apocalypse dreams, which do not terrify me. I take the vivid details from these frequent dreams and put them to digital paper as well as real paper.

Most of my stories center on an image, an image usually so graphic in my mind that the events leading up to the image and the events following it are emblazoned in my mind until I can get them out. That, my friends, is why I'm updating this story so quickly.

I would like to give a shout out to BreakFree01 for your steady support and encouragement. Big zombie hunter cookie and sticker! I am spurred to update faster because of the feedback. Than you so much.

Aaaaand on with the story...

Small side note: I'm taking the Manga and the Anime together on HOTD, That means some of the information is a little bit different from the Season 1 episodes as they have a slightly different time-table.

************Chapter 6: The Dead of Night ****************

***HOTD group, on the bus near the setting of the sun on the first day of the Z day.***

"Why the hell are we going toward the city? Why do we have to go along with these assholes?" the bleached blonde Shizuka demanded, walking along the aisle of the bus, grabbing a hand rail as Miss Marikawa slammed into another of 'them'.

Takashi glanced at him with a frown, and said nothing. These people were not his responsibility.

"These bastards decided where to go without asking us, or even taking us into consideration!" The bleached blonde said, getting even louder, glaring and heading toward Takashi.

"The school housing complex should have been easy to defend. Why dont we go back?" Asked another, mousy, black haired student.

"If we hadn't gotten you out of there you'd have all ended up dead." Saya pointed out, "And what's your problem anyway?"

"I just... I just fucking Hate this guy!" Shizuka shouted, pointing at Takashi, who in turn raised his eyebrows.

"What did I ever do to you? I don't even know you, man." He smirked a bit and watched the idiot telegraph his punch. As he was getting ready to move out of it's trajectory, Rei stepped in with her pole-arm and slammed the moron against the opposite seat.

"Rei?" He asked, his eyebrows arching.

"Fucking asshole." She muttered looking down at the ass who had attacked her friend for no reason.

"And that just helped to make my point.." Mr. Shido said, clapping, "We need a leader. And since you are all students, with the exception, of course, of Miss Marikawa, I am the only adult. I am also a teacher, and I just saved this group of students from the school."

"I take it you want the job?" Saya snarled at him.

"Miss Takagi, while you are all very intelligent, you are still children. I am the only obvious choice." He smiled down at her from the seat above her. The bus had slammed to a stop sometime between the bleached blonde idiot and this speech by the sleazy teacher.

"I'm leaving." Rei said, turning to Miss Marikawa. "Please, open the door. I can't stand another minute with this guy." She shook her head and leaped down from the passenger seat of the front of the microbus. Takashi followed her out.

"Rei, come back to the bus. At least until we make it to the bridge." Takashi begged, trying to get a hold on her arm.

"Look, I told you to let that bastard die. I told you you would regret letting him come! He's an evil bastard! I won't spend another second in his company. I'd rather die!" She cried out.

A public transit bus was speeding their way, the driver being attacked by rotting zombies. "Run!" Saeko Busujima shouted from the window as she was telling Miss Marikawa to move the bus forward.

Seeing the danger a little too late, Rei and Takashi ran toward the underpass for shelter. The bus tipped, spilling the undead passengers inside into the windows, bones ground on glass, and limbs snapped as the bus came crashing to a halt on it's side. It quickly caught fire, the gas tank punctured by the damage of the wreck.

"We can't get that way any more!" Rei shouted to Saeko. 

"Takashi!" Saeko, Saya, Hirano, and Miss Marikawa shouted out at the same time, a note of warning and of concern in equal amounts as the dead inside of the bus, burning, rotting, but still moving began to exit the bus, heading for what they perceived as easy prey, both on the bus and in the tunnel.

"We'll meet at the shrine!" Takashi shouted at them.

"What time?" Saeko shouted back.

"Seven, Afternoon! We'll see you there. Stay safe!" He shouted as a final warning before taking Rei's hand and running away from the fiery bus just as it exploded, blowing bits of burning, rotting flesh all over the short tunnel, leaving bits of charnel in his and Rei's hair and on the creases of their clothing.

He pulled a bit of flesh out of her brown hair as she looked up at him. "What are we going to do now?" She asked.

A leather clad creature attacked just then, and, hitting the ground hard, he tried to make sure he didnt' get bitten. Then, suddenly, he realized that the biker still had his helmet on and the visor down. The thing couldn't bite him if it tried. He began to laugh, an almost hysterical laugh brought from relief and momentary terror. Rei smashed the thing's head in from the back with a bit of concrete. "We need to find his bike." Takashi said, pushing the dead's body off of him as he slid the keys from it's front pocket.

"Can you drive one of those things?" She asked, as they looked down at the motorcycle.

"I don't see why not." He said, smiling at her as he pulled the bike up onto it's wheels and began the short trek to the highway. "We need to find someplace to stay the night." he said, frowning as the sun sat. "Any ideas?" He asked, frowning. "We really don't need to be out after dark."

"I think the local mall might be a good idea." She motioned to the local strip mall that held a bedding store. "A good night's sleep in a bed sounds like it will be a luxury soon." She said, moving toward the department store.

"As long as we keep the lights off, and keep quiet, I don't see why not." Takashi shrugged, then headed to the store, glad that the pull-down gate was only partially down. He pulled it down the rest of the way as quietly as possible, and they retreated to the back of the store.

**** Back at the Higurashi Compound, shortly after sunset. *********

"You are strange." Sesshomaru said, rather abruptly. After nearly an hour of complete silence from the demon, the words startled Gabrielle.

"You say I'm strange, the Dog Demon Lord from Sengoku-era Japan who time-traveled to get here where the dead walk and eat the living. But I'm the strange thing?" She asked, turning a golden eye on him, the other was on the gate to the side, where he wouldn't be able to see, just like he was watching the area behind her back.

"You don't belong here. You say you are a descendant of a girl-child that I am the guardian of. She is still almost in swaddling. How can she be a predecessor to you?" He asked, remembering to keep his voice down.

"She grew up, married, had kids, those kids had kids, etcetera until I was born and here I am."

"You do not look like you have any Japanese heritage at all." Sesshomaru said, frowning.

"That, my friend, is the magic of genetics. You taught me that, by the way." She smiled at him.

It seemed odd that he found himself talking openly with this girl-child, a human, and one he supposedly helped to raise at that. He thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the perplexing thoughts that were swirling in his mind. Such as why did he not warn her of the impending 'plague' as the humans called it.

"To your six. About forty yards off." She said, pointing behind him before laying a finger on her lips. The smell hit him, then. A strong putrescence that pervaded the area. A group of twenty or more dead humans filed past him, away from the compound. Every so often, one would brush against the fence, the noise of which was muffled by cloths wrapped around the hinges.

After nearly twenty minutes, they both stood up for a look around. They all seemed to be gone. Gabrielle whistled low, calling in whomever was on lookout.

Shippou appeared quietly, in his small form.

"Where did they come from?" Gabrielle whispered, frowning.

"The Onbetsu bridge area, I think. That's what Kagome called that bridge when she was pointing the landmarks out to me." He whispered back. "It was just over there. There was some flashes, then those stopped, and noise started coming from the opposite direction, so I guess they are heading that way." He pointed in the opposite direction from the bridge."

Frowning, she sighed. The others were asleep, It was almost time to wake Sango and Souta for their watch. She gave them a short run down of what had happened, told them to stay quiet, and if they need reinforcements, to send Kouga to wake the others. 

****888****888****8888************8*888888

A/N: Yes, it's a short chapter. I realized I needed filler for the bus escape, and missed it. Plenty of core plot developments going on in this and the last chapter. A lot of descriptive gore, which I happen to enjoy.

Anyways, I'm off to bed, enjoy your story, read, rate, and review please. And again, thanks to my faithful reviewer!

-Beause I'm just that awesome. -me :)


	7. Chapter 7: Dead Lucky

Thanks for the reviews! I love it when people love my work. I love bringing people together who love zombie stories and demons. :)

Anyways, on with the story. Here you go.

*** *** ***Z-Day +1 10:09 a. m. Outside of the bridge. *** *** *** *** *** ***

"Officials are advising those who are able, to leave the city. If you cannot get out of the city, please meet up in a secluded area. At the moment the SPD and the American military have the center of the city quarantined to try to attempt the spread of the pandemic." the TV crackled a bit before the picture re-focused. "I'm at the scene of two victims of this plague, they are being prepared to load into ambulances to take to the morgue. The police have, thus far, not used deadly force.." The brunette on the television turned as one and then the other body bags rose up, then stood up. The policeman turned and fired upon them.

Then, the reporter screamed, the camera jerked violently before crashing to the ground. The camera shone on the obviously dead woman and the man filming

The bus sreeched around the corner at a speed not meant to be traveled, it's trajectory a small open space through the intersection. The bus barely made it past the two trucks blocking the roadway when they were forced to stop. A long line of traffic for the bridge lay ahead of them.

Miss Marisawa growled under her breath but sat back, visibly relieved to be in the relative safety of others.

The night was long and filled with screams, leaving little rest for those on the bus. At daybreak, Saya woke to find Kohta asleep against the window, drool coming from the side of his mouth. Making a disgusted sound, she shoved him to wake him.

As he jolted awake, Mr. Saito stood in the center aisle and began talking to the students in the back of the bus.

"My children,we will be the heralds of mankind's new generation. They need our guidance in order to survive." Mr. Saito smiled as he stroked the cheek of one of the younger girls.

"This guy sounds like a total nut job." Hirano said, looking at Saya.

"He doesn't just sound like one, he is one. He's creating a new religion on himself. Perverted teacher or not, I say we need to get out of here and find Takagi." She said, crossing her arms. "Besides, this bus isn't going anywhere."

"I'd have to say I agree." Saeko said, coming over from the seat across the aisle. She kept one hand on the hilt of her bokken and the other was across her chest.

"Hey, guys, if you're going can I come too?" Miss Marikawa asked from the front as she came back toward them.

"Well, what have we here, care to share with the rest of the class, Miss Takani?" Mr. Shido asked, coming toward them.

"We've decided to leave. All four of us. We're leaving right now." Saya told him, standing up. Kohta nodded and stood up with her.

Kohta flashed back on all of the times he'd been tortured by his classmates and watched Mr. Shido just stand back and laugh. He was a cruel, heartless bastard who would, no doubt, have something up his sleeve.

"If you all plan to leave the group, I won't stop you... However... I cannot allow Miss Marikawa to leave. We have students here that will require her attention, do we not?" Mr. Shido asked, a sick smile on his face.

Miss Marikawa looked at her friends with terror, afraid of being left behind at the mercy of this obviously cruel and vicious pervert. "I.."

"She goes with us if she wants to go with us." Saeko said, drawing her bokken.

"Oh, I think we will have to stop you fro..." he was cut off abruptly as the soft puff of the nail gun went off. The nail flew so close to his face that it grazed his cheek. He lifted his hand to his face, then looked at the droplets of blood in horror.

"I won't miss a second time." Kohta snarled. "I've not killed a living person before, but I killed plenty of my classmates. What is to stop me from killing you? You who watched those bullies torture me all of the time! You never stepped in! You just watched." he spat on the floor. "I don't think i'll have any problems killing you. I think I will enjoy it.'

Kohta's eyes were hidden by his glasses. The black hair on his head was mussed and his hands were steady. Saya looked at him, startled, amazed, and in a small amount of awe.

"Go. I'll watch your back guys." He said, nodding toward the door, eyes steadily on the home-made sights on his nail gun. The crosshairs directly on Mr. Shido.

*********** The area near the Higurashi Shrine. **************

Takashi and Rei were on the back of the bike, heading through the local shopping district.

A few hours before, near dawn, they had found a destroyed police cruiser with a dead pair of cops, probably killed on impact. They'd rescued a revolver pistol and five extra rounds. Takashi stuck it in his pocket.

Alarmingly, people were throwing Molotov cocktails. They raced through the mayhem, nearly being shot twice and coming close to being set ablaze once. Rei clung tightly to Takashi's back as they bumped over the curb and into the park.

As the circled the fountain, Takashi glanced up the hill, frowning as he caught sight of something white and flowing in the Higurashi's god tree. It was there for a moment, then gone.

"Damnit, they just keep coming!" Takashi shouted over the sound of the engine.

It was beginning to seem hopeless as they had to pass between and behind more and more of the monsters.

Suddenly, a wind whipped around the area, the walking dead falling down inanimate with seemingly no reason before a figure blurred into view. It was a guy, no older than most high school seniors, but he was barefoot, and in ancient clothing. "Was there an anime convention in town?" Rei whispered in his ear.

"Umm... I don't think so..." Takashi said, frowning. "Dude, what's up?" He asked the brown haired man with bloody hands. "And what the hell was that?" He further demanded.

"Name's Kouga. I was told to come get you, so come on." He said, somewhat gruffly, then nodded back toward the Higurashi shrine. "We'll have to take the long way, though. That noisy thing drew a lot of attention." He nodded to the motorcycle which still idled. Beneath the duo.

Takashi shut the engine off, and stepped over the side, then helped Rei follow him. "Are you ok?" He asked her, frowning a little.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here before they come back." She said, brushing her skirt down before walking toward Kouga, who had his bloody hand outstretched.

Takashi followed, more suspicious than thankful, as the insanely fast guy led the way. "Well... if zombies can exist, why not people with super-powers, right?" He asked himself.

********************* At the Shrine **********************

Inuyasha sat at the gate, keeping watch. Souta and Kagome were sleeping, as well as Gabrielle. His brother, sulking as always, was on top of the God tree keeping watch for survivors. Gabrielle had told them to keep an eye out for people who needed help. Told them to watch for a pair on a motorcycle, and for a group of girls with a chubby, black haired boy.

Sesshomaru heard the whine of a motorcycle before he saw it. Three or four complexes down, in a small, local garden. The duo on the bike seemed to be unaffected by their surrroundings, probably unaware that they were headed into a large group of the hungry dead. He debated going to them, then called out to Kouga.

Kouga put up a token fight before going outside of the gate to slaughter the hungry dead. His speed was an incredible advantage in killing the walkers. Between the three of them, they decided to let the girls sleep. Sango slept on the porch, Kilala tucked in a ball on her legs, Kaede was sitting on the steps of the well house and Shippou was taking his turn on top lookout.

Miroku, the oddball at the moment, was patrolling the perimeter of the fence surrounding the shrine complex.

"This is worse than anything I've heard of from your time." Souta said to Inuyasha in a low tone.

"I agree. This is the worst thing I'd ever seen." Inuyasha admitted. "This is insane."

"Incoming dead people, group of about fifty, following a small group of people in school uniforms like Kagome's." Shippou called down from the roof, he was looking out in the opposite direction from where Kouga had gone. "They're headed this way." He added after, his tail twitching as the breeze shifted and the stench of rot permeated the compound. "I think we should wake up Kagome and the others." he mentioned.

"The three stayed up all night. We're letting them sleep." Kaede said resolutely. "Don't you dare wake those girls up."

********** A/N ***************

Anyways, I've got the next, like, six chapters planned out, so they will be semi-quick updates. As always, read, rate, and review! Lots of love!

"This lady Cussed at Me!" -Girl at work. "Did you say "Thank you?" -me


	8. Chapter 8: The Gathering Dead

Thanks for the reviews! I love feedback. I also love zombies. Yes. I intend to do horrible, vicious things to characters. * evil Grins * Here's your next chapter!

** ** ** ** ** ** Chapter 8: The Gathering Dead ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Kohta Hirano stood on the short walking bridge, his brows drawn together in a frown. They were surrounded. They had been hearing the dead all around them for over ten minutes. The group was very close to being completely overwhelmed by the dead.

Saeko was breathing hard, her bokken was dripping with the blood of the dead, her skirt, torn a bit at the back, showed a bit of her tight, fit thighs which were wet with sweat and the blood of her victims. A smile graced her lips, her cheeks were flushed slightly, as if in the throws of passion.

"They're getting a bit close for comfort." Saya said, nervously, she and Miss Marikawa were together, back to back. Miss Marikawa was holding her medical bag in front of her chest like a shield. Saya was holding a small bat, but it was still clean.

"We've got to get out of here." Hirano said, shaking his head. He was guarding the north end of the bridge, Saya the south end. Luckily, this was not a broad bridge, only two

abreast at a time could cross. It was an old bridge, it creaked as they stood on it, the wind brought relief from the stench of the walkers.

"Any ideas Takagi?!" Saeko asked, turning her head slightly as she downed another one. "We're getting overwhelmed here!" She slammed the bokken into the heads of two together, making a temporary block.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** With Takagi, Kouga, and Rei ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Takagi slammed his bat into the head of a zombie as it ran from the side of an alley. Rei gave a little yelp of surprise. Kouga laughed a little as he ran ahead, then behind them, clearing the way, leaving very little for the two high schoolers to do. Rei stabbed a zombie through the head as it ran from around a corner with a snarl.

"Hey, I thought we were heading to the shrine?" Takagi shouted to the speeding demon.

"There's something going on, the others are heading toward the other side of the shrine." Kouga said from the roof of a nearby building he'd run up the side of. "It's another group in clothes like yours. They're on a bridge but they're surrounded." He said, frowning.

"That's the others, Takagi!" Rei shouted to him, then raced toward the fight.

"Let's get them!" Takagi replied, racing toward where Kouga was looking.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Higurashi Shrine *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

"Kagome, get your boys, we need to go get those students." Gabrielle called over to her, looking toward the mayhem on the walking bridge.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Kagome shouted, then paused, looking at Gabrielle. "My boys?"

"They're your team. They're all boys. They're your boys." Gabrielle explained as she grabbed a set of kodachi.

"They fight admirably." Sesshomaru said, smiling, eying the tall, black haired swordswoman.

"Let's do this!" Souta shouted, pulling the throwing knives he'd taken from his grandfather's room out of their pouch.

Sesshomaru leapt from the god tree and onto the gate, then to the nearest building Inuyasha followed him step for step. Miroku and Sango on Kilala flew toward the havoc. Kagome stayed behind to guard the compound with Kaede, Shippo and Souta. "Be careful. Don't get bitten." She said to Gabrielle as she sprinted past the gate.

"Duh." Gabrielle called back to her, running toward the group of people surrounded by the walking dead.

She pulled the .22 pistol from her waist holster, shooting twice, each shot a head shot. It was hard to miss with the short distance, a mere ten feet from the gate. Sesshomaru flew from building to buildng, Inuyasha behind him, as the trio flew directly above her on the cat demon.

"I'm running out of ammo!" Kohta shouted back to Saya and more importantly to Saeko.

"Completely out or just this set?" Saeko asked, downing another of the dead.

"Completely." Kohta answered.

Recognizing the direness of the situation, Gabrielle pulled the A.K. from it's shoulder holster two magazines were taped to the sides of the stock with paper tape for easy access, tossing it up like a spear at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha! Give this to the fat kid!"

Inuyasha caught the gun, then jumped toward the center of the bridge. He landed on the rail, shoving the metal thing at the fat kid with black hair. "Here." He said, frowning, as the boy's eyes lit up.

"That's an A.K from the American military! Holy crap!" Kohta grabbed it, chambered a round, and fired at a zombie over Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha grabbed at his ears, recoiling from the incredibly loud bang so close to his head. Hanyou hearing was bad for this, he thought to himself as he turned and began slashing at the turned humans.

"Kohta, we have reinforcements coming! Watch your shots!" Saeko shouted across the bridge to him, eying the couple on the cat demon. The tall, silver haired demon that leapt from roof to roof also caught her eye, but her attention was divided between surviving and not killing friendlies.

"Roger that. I'm watching my shots." He shouted back.

"That's a 32 round magazine, kid! Count your shots! Extras are on the sides, you have that many to get you to the shrine complex!" Gabrielle shouted to Kohta, using her .22 to clear a swathe around her and toward the swordswoman.

Sesshomaru set down behind the girl-child as she finished downing another pair of enemies. "They just don't stop." She muttered to herself. Sesshomaru drew Tensaiga and stood beside the girl, ready to cut his enemies up. "Hello, stranger." She smiled over at the silver haired demon. Sesshomaru smiled back at her.

"You have great skill with the sword." He said, then proceeded to slice through four enemies at once.

"This is insane!" Takashi shouted, coming from the left. Sango used Hiraikotsu to knock about a dozen off of their feet, cracking heads against pavement before she caught the giant boomerang. Miroku jumped down from the air, stepping down onto the bridge, staff ready to defend the two in the center. The older woman with the outrageous body had him itching for just a touch.

"Careful!" Sango shouted, pointing to the side of the shallow river, the zombies were now coming from the sides. 

Dozens, then hundreds were coming out of the surrounding houses, Rei was fighting back to back with Takashi, Kouga ran circles around the enormous swarm. They were surrounded on all sides. A little girl screamed from a balcony, her short pink hair was damp with blood. She screamed hysterically. Sango swept away, grabbing the girl by her shirt, pulling her up and away from the zombies coming out of the apartment. 

"We've got to get back to the house!" Sango shouted, Gabrielle called out an agreement.

"Can everyone fit on Kilala?" Gabrielle shouted up to the hunter as she swung Hiraikotsu again.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha ended up back to back, Sesshomaru's sword and Inuyasha's claws were making red arcs as they cut down enemy after enemy. But for every one enemy they disabled, two more took it's place.

"Tetsuaiga would be of great help at the moment, brother." Sesshomaru said to Inuyasha. Inuyasha snarled and drew the sword. When it didn't transform, he used it like a traditional katana. Slicing heads from bodies, the group was quickly finding themselves pushed to the center of the bridge. Takashi, Rei, Saeko, Kohta, Miss Marikawa, Saya, Inuyasha, Gabrielle, Sesshomaru, and Miroku were all together, trying to fight their way forward, in the chaos they'd fought to the center of the bridge only to find themselves trapped.

"Kilala can only carry three or four at a time!" Sango shouted, swinging Hiraikotsu down again, trying to clear a swath for her friends and the teens to move forward. 

"Aim for their heads!" Saya shouted.

"I think we get that by now." Gabrielle shot back as she downed another three with well placed shots. "Sango! Grab the non-combatants, the two girls, and get them back to the compound, then come back. We'll make our way toward you!" She shouted up to the hunter.

"Ok. Girls, jump!" The girls jumped, Miss Marikawa grabbing on to the outstretched hand of Sango, who pulled her up. Saya grabbed Kilala's fur, holding on for a second before Sango grabbed her too.

"We'll be right back!" Sango shouted, speeding on Kilala toward the shrine.

"We won't make it.." Saeko said, frowning. She slashed again, and again another zombie fell.

"This is impossible." Gabrielle muttered to herself.

"Then it's time for my turn." Miroku smiled sickly, unwrapping the holy bindings on his hand. He opened the vortex, drawing the walking dead into it. Into himself. He drew, stepping forward. He walked, pulling the monsters into himself from the left to the right, ahead of them. The moaning, hungry, walking dead were sucked into the vortex. He walked forward, sucking in not dozens, but hundreds of what were once humans. As soon as the area was cleared, he wrapped the holy guards around his hand again before going onto one knee and vomiting.

He shuddered as he stood, and turned back to the others. "Let's get home." He said with a sad smile before turning away, toward the shrine. He took off at a run, the others followed, Sesshomaru leapt from building to building, Inuyasha following him, the others stayed on the ground and made it safely back into the Higurashi shrine complex.

As they reached the inside of the gates, Sango slapped Miroku. Tears were streaming down her face.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** AN ** ** ** ** **

Yup. A cliffie.

You know the drill, Read, rate, review. Until next time.

-and one more thing,


	9. Chapter 9: Dead Spark

Yes, I know, suspense. What's a zombie story without suspense? I promised a sharp right turn from the original HOTD story line, and there it is. We will return to it periodically as the story line needs it. Also, thanks Diane for the spot on Kilala being a cat and not a fox. For some reason I kept thinking fox. Ah well. Appreciate the reviews! Lots of love :)

**** Chapter 9: Dead Spark **********

As they reached the inside of the gates, Sango slapped Miroku. Tears were streaming down her face.

Miroku fell down, frowning. "What the HELL?" Sango shouted, slapping at him again. He flew back, hands up to defend himself as Sango reared back for another strike. Sesshomaru caught her hand. "What in the Hell were you thinking?"

"That was the only way out." He mumbled, hand holding swollen cheek.

"The poisoned insects from Naraku make you sick with their poison. What in the hell do you think those infected dead are going to do?!" She shouted at him, before jerking out of Sesshomaru's grasp. She ran to him, knelt down, and hugged him to her chest.

Surprised, astonished, Miroku let her hold him. Tears fell and dampened his hair, ran down his face as if he, too were crying. She held him like that for a long time. The others made introductions to Kagome and the others, each insisting on using first names.

Saeko walked up to Sango, laid a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "He saved us. He truly did. We would have been overwhelmed before you came back." Saeko told her, then put a hand on the monk's head, "Thank you." She said, smiling down at him before heading for the front gate,

""You're an idiotic jerk." Sango said into his hair, still refusing to let him go.

"I know. I know." Miroku said, stroking her hair, then, inevitably, moving his hand down to cup her bottom.

As soon as she felt a hand on her butt, she smacked the perverted monk. Grinning, Miroku sat back, hand print vivid on his cheek left as evidence of his lechery. He was happy to have things back to normal, whatever that was.

"We have to stay quiet." Saya was saying to Sango, pink pigtails bobbing as she talked in low tones. "This isn't just going to go away. It's only going to get worse."

"I know that," Kagome intoned, "but until we can evacuate it's the best thing to do."

"So you're suggesting we stay in the Higurashi shrine house complex until help arrives?" Miss Marikawa asked, her breasts bouncing.

"No. I'm saying we fortify the walls, set up a guard, and an alarm system that doesn't rely on electricity and can be disabled by the living for easy escape. The demons, obviously, won't have any trouble getting in and out, but the humans here need an out." Gabrielle said, frowning. "And, help probably will be unreliable unless it's one of our own. Your parents, your friends, others, we have to be careful of other survivors, they may not be of the friendly variety. We need to stay put until the worst is over, then we should move out. After the worst is over, they should calm down."

Gabrielle's hands moved from her kodachi, to her .22 to her hips, checking each weapon as she talked. She pulled out a black cloth and began cleaning the steel, offering another to Saeko and yet another to Inuyasha. Sesshomaru was cleaning his blade on the ground.

Inuyasha cleaned tetsuaiga thoroughly before putting it in it's sheath. Sesshomaru had long since sheathed his sword, and Gabrielle was close to finishing with hers. As it was a black wooden practice sword, Saeko's bokken did not need to be cleaned.

"Please tell me you have more than one set of ammunition for this gun?" Kohta asked, looking at the disassembled AK as he cleaned it.

"Um... actually, what was taped to it is all that I could sneak across the border." Gabrielle blushed, scratching at the back of her head. "I do have plenty of .22 and .38 for this .38 special." She tossed the small bag at Kohta. "You know how to work this one right?" She asked, grinning.

"Oh yeah. I'd like another AK with a scope though." He said, frowning as he caught the heavy bag. It was heavier than he thought it would be in a very good way. "Kagome, you need a weapon." He said, noticing she didn't have a bladed weapon with her.

"Oh, well, I can handle a bow. We have plenty of arrows, and we know how to make more." She smiled, pulling at the bow-string that was taught over her chest. She pointed to the quiver of arrows by the gate and the pile of arrows currently being assembled by Kaede and Shipppo on the roof.

"I have an idea, I think." Miss Marikawa, who had been watching the exchange between the two groups. "My girlfriend is part of the Special Defense Force, and I saw a bunch of guns like that one at her place. It's not too far from here, actually. And she has this big car, like a tank! We could go get that stuff and bring it back here." She said, pulling a key from the chain around her neck. "Plus I keep extra clothes there so we could grab some for us." She smiled.

Saya grinned at her, then frowned. Maybe, just maybe, they could make this work. A big enough group to survive, a small enough group to be able to move quickly. And, if they could get that vehicle, an easy escape route. "I say we go for it." She said, raising her hand.

"Takashi, Saeko, Kohta, and Miss Marikawa can go together to her girlfriend's house. Everyone else should stay here." Saya said, nodding to herself.

"Actually, if we keep Saeko here, the other three can go with Sango on Kilala and be back before dark. Or at the very latest, by noon tomorrow." Gabrielle said, pointing to the giant flying kitsune.

"Good point. That thing flies. But the car will take time to navigate here, even with planning." She agreed. "I think at least one of the guys should go with them. I vote that super fast guy."

"You mean Kouga?" Kagome asked, pointing to the wolf demon. "Kouga, can you run along the roofs of the buildings, keeping out of the streets and out of sight?"

Kouga disappeared from his spot by the wall, then appeared in front of the girls. "Yes. I can do that." He said, smiling. "But I'm not carrying anybody." He grinned wider, showing fangs.

"Ok, this is the best thing to do, you go as soon as you can. Be back by noon tomorrow or we will assume you've run into trouble." Kagome said, nodding.

"This is insane." Souta said, frowning.

"This is our best chance to get more weapons." Kagome replied.

"Yeah, but it's still insane." Souta shook his head, then tossed a water bottle at the taller of the boys that would be going with Sango, he tossed another to the demon hunter, and a third at the guns kid. He'd already given one to Miss Marikawa.

"I agree with you there, kid." Takashi said, taking a long gulp of his water before continuing, "but we have to get weapons and another escape route than on foot." he said, re-capping the water bottle and placing it in his back pocket before climbing on top of the giant Cat demon.

"See you in a few hours." Sango said to Kagome before Kilala lifted off with her four passengers. Kouga grinned before running up the wall, jumping to the next roof, and continuing out of sight, following the fox demon.

****** ******* ******** ***** On The Mini-Bus ***** **** ****** ********** *********

Mr. Shido was standing at the front of the bus, his hands in his pockets. "You, my children, are the pure, flawless creators that will bring this world into a new age. You shall lead me with your purity. I am old, impure, and I have great fault, but you, with your pure bodies, your pure souls, can cleanse me. Please, my children, no, my saviors, cleanse me of my impurities so that I may follow you into the new world." He said, cupping one face, then another.

The next few hours were filled with obscene ecstasies that he filmed with his phone, as he cleaned his soul with that of the young girls on the bus.

As noon came and it became apparent that they were not getting anywhere in the micro-bus, he made a thoughtful decision.

"A new world, a new existence, needs to begin in a place that is holy in both this world and in the old one. We need to head to the Higurashi shrine, my children." He cried out, pointing up the hill.

"Yes!" The cry was unanimous. He turned the bus in the direction of the hill. He grinned as he passed the stranded motorists, going around the poor bastards who would be or were dying. He drove his disciples away from the bridges, away from the school, and toward the new promised land; Higurashi Shrine.

***** **** ****** ****** AN ***************** ************* ************* *********

Yup. I have some very nasty things in mind. It may take one chapter to lay the land, it may take several, depends on the details. Anyways, I'm off for the night. Have fun. And remember the three r's: Read, Rate and Review.

-I walk with a cane because I'm just that cool. -me.


	10. Chapter 10: Dead Flicker

I would like to take a moment to thank Diane for taking the time to read this story, and for the even longer time to let me know I've mispronounced or misspelled things, or even just simply gotten them wrong. Your time and effort is appreciated and your info will be used in further chapters. Thank you.

Also, I'd like to thank BreakFree01 for your unwavering support, I have a few surprises in store just for you. And I know you're not evil, but it was once said that I bathe in the blood of mine enemies. Not buckets, but oceans.

Animecutylover: I thank you for your input. I am glad to intrigue you and make you happy.

I would like to point out that I know very little about firearms and guns in general. Blades are my specialty, so if I kind of haze over gun descriptions, that is why. As I conclude this Author's Note, I want to say: Prepare for the worst, pray for the best, and prepare.

************* Chapter 10: Dead Flicker *****************

The sky lit up at dusk, as if someone had pulled out fireworks. The bus, which was going full speed down the hill before the uphill climb to the Higurashi complex, stopped working as the blast radius hit central east-central Tokyo. "What the hell?" Mr. Shido demanded, pumping the brakes.

Ahead, and in the middle of the road, was a blockade of civilian cars as well as military humvees. A deuce and a half, or a two and a half ton American troop transport truck stood blocking most of the roadway. He hit the brakes again and again, pumping them. He turned his head, searching for the emergency break.

As he turned his attention back toward the road, the bus slammed into the deuce and a half. It sent him crashing, with three of his disciples, through the window and onto the street. As the pavement came up to meet him, he heard the unmistakable, gutteral groan of the living dead. The last thought in his mind was "Should have worn a seat belt."

As it would happen, he skidded underneath an American tank, hidden from view, along with one of his disciples, a blonde with great breasts. Another student blocked the entrance with his bulk, blocking any passing zombie from seeing the underside of the tank.

********8888 ********8 *****8 At The Higurashi Shrine ****88 ********* ********

"What on earth was that?" Souta pointed to the lit up sky. They had been waiting for the others to come back. Saya had received a call from Takagi telling her they'd made it to the house, as they were talking about supplies, the phone fried. A high pitched noise before a slight shock to her hand. She tossed the phone away with a small curse as she looked into the sky.

"EMP." Saya muttered. "High altitude electromagnetic pulse, fried everything with a motherboard." she said, looking at the now useless phone.

"And that means?" Inuyasha asked, frowning.

"No electronics will work. Most cars are now useless pieces of junk. Electricity is gone, along with anything that relies on it. Including Cell phones and Televisions." Saya explained with a condescending tone.

"Television?" Inuyasha asked.

"The demon box in the living room." Kagome explained to him.

"Damn it. That thing was great too." Inuyasha snapped his fingers, then sighed. He straitened his back, looked around, and then, to Kagome, whispered conspiratorially, "What about that ramen?"

Kagome looked at him for a full minute, then she began to laugh.

"What?" He demanded.

"Of course ramen will still work. It's noodles in hot water. All we have to do is heat up water and it'll cook. No electricity required." She smiled, patting his arm. "I take it you are hungry?" She asked.

"Of course. Sesshomaru! Come down here, you have to try this. It's the best thing in the world!" He shouted up to his half brother who sat up in the god tree. Kagome shook her head and laughed again before setting a fire in the yard.

"It'll be ready in about 15 minutes. Is ramen ok for everyone?" She called out, receiving unanimous answers of 'Yes.' She pulled out one of the biggest pots from the kitchen, then she placed it over the fire, heating the water for instant ramen.

"That actually smells good, human." Sesshomaru said, surprising her from behind.

"Yeah. It does. Inuyasha loves it." Kagome admitted, smiling to herself.

Meanwhile Miroku sat at the god tree, resting, glancing down at his hand every so often, watching the grey creep up the skin, through the veins. He had become dizzy shortly before, but it had passed. He hoped it would be like the poison from Naraku's insects. He hoped and he re-wrapped the bindings on his hand just a little tighter.

***********8 At the Apartment ***************88

Kohta was in complete gun overload. He'd busted the thinly concealed safe with a little help from Takashi. There was enough in this safe to outfit a whole special forces unit.

Hand grenades, modified handguns and pistols, a couple of hand-cannons, some crossbows, a couple of riot guns, a pair of twin swords, and enough ammo to kill half of Tokyo, which, it seemed was a solid probability.

The .38 special had a dozen boxes of ammo alone, along with what was back at the shrine with the American. He put everything in the ammo boxes, arranged by size and type of ammunition. He made sure every sight was perfect, that every gun was cleaned and oiled, that the cleaning supplies for each were neatly packed with their respective weapons.

Sango and Kilala were on the outside balcony working as lookouts and an early warning system. Koga was running around the complex, destroying the walking dead as he cleared room after room, floor after floor. No weapons but his own hands and his speed. He seemed to be enjoying himself. The insanity that was the world didn't seem to faze the demon, and as a matter of fact seemed to be bringing out the worst in him.

That was a problem to be dealt with later, though, for Miss Marikawa was packing two bags full of clothes and shoes. She seemed happy as she could get, and Takagi was looking in the fridge, talking to Saya on the phone as he pulled perishables out and into a cooler-box.

Suddenly, the lights went out. Kohta immediately fired up the gas powered hurricane lamp in the safe. He lit another, and then a third, carrying them first to Takashi, and then to Miss Marikawa, who both thanked them. "We need to leave soon." Kohta said, firmly.

"Hey, we've begun to attract attention." Sango called in from the balcony, Kilala was in small form, sleeping on her shoulder. "I suggest we get going soon." She walked into the dark house.

"Ok, we're almost done here. Did you call Saya, Takashi?" He asked, looking toward the defacto leader.

"Um. Yeah, but the phone fried before I could tell her we were going to take the Hummer." He said, frowning down at the blank screen. He'd hit the power button multiple times and it hadn't done anything.

"There must have been an EMP of some sort, the power is out on this scope too. I wonder if the Humvee will even work now." he said, looking at Miss Marikawa. She took the hint, then walked down the stairs toward the garage.

The sound of the huge motor turning over was incredibly loud in the enclosed area of the parking spot, but the noise was a blessed relief from the nagging suspicion that it wouldn't even work.

"Miss Marikawa, who exactly is your friend?" Kohta asked, looking at the woman.

"Oh, my girlfriend? She's the captain of the SDF. She's often out of town so she gives me the key to look after the place. Why?" Miss Marikawa put a finger to her lips, pondering the question. "She's always saying if anything happens to come here and she'd meet me. Do you think I should leave a note?" She asked, then bounced back upstairs to do just that.

Shaking his head, Takashi grinned. The airhead actually knows something, and maybe, just maybe, hope would come for them. They'd have to start the search for their families soon, but between now and then, the Higurashi shrine would be a wonderful base of operations. A place of peace and normalcy, even with the demons for company.

Of all the things possible, Demons were a close second to zombies as far as impossible went. Yet, in the middle of a zombie plague, demons, creatures of myth and legend, were helping humans. The last thing that he thought could happen, and it had happened. He yawned. He'd stayed up late the night before it all went to hell, the lack of sleep was catching up to him. The few hours he'd caught with Rei in the mattress store were fitful and frequently interrupted.

"All loaded up?" Sango asked, smiling at him.

"Yeah. Let's get going." He looked around, noticed that Koga was missing.

"Where's the speed demon?" he asked, looking around.

"He's around. He's watching out for us from above. I'll be flying with Kilala so that I can give you directions if we see any groups so we can avoid them." She smiled, patting the demon cat's head.

"Good idea. Looks like we'll make it before full dark."

*****8 Under the Tank **********

Shido groaned, pushing himself up onto his arms, wary of the bottom of the tank. His female companion was waking as well. The sun was setting. He was weary, and did not want to move. He pulled the girl with him as he crawled out from under the tank. He pushed her upward, to climb into the tank's armored door. He climbed in behind her, spinning the locking bolt home with a resounding thud.

d

His 'disciples' were all dead. All but this girl. She was sexy and vulnerable, and she was all alone with him, her savior. The poor fool that had died of a crushed skull lay on the side of the tank, blocking the only other exit from the underside of the tank. He considered himself lucky the under-carriage door was open. He sighed in relief as he noticed the doors were locked around and above him.

Though there was blood on the front seat, the whole vehicle was empty. He made sure to block the entrance to the gunner's pit from the driving area. Safe as he could be, he passed out.

********* Chapter's End *****************

A/N: Thanks again for my reviewers, I appreciate every word you read and every word you write. I love to write stories that are both unconventional and full of interesting, yet pointless, information.

-Want to know the random fact of the day? (insert random thing here) -me at work


	11. Chapter 11: Dead Flame

This chapter is long awaited, and long planned. It's been set up for several chapters now, and I'm proud to present:

****************8 Chapter 11: Dead Flame 8*********************

Miroku was standing at the gate, leaning on it, it was holding him up. His hand ached, his arm throbbed, all the way up to his elbow was almost aflame. It felt like his arm was rotting off. He had kept his sickness hidden from the others, even Kaede.

His turn at the gate was shared by Gabrielle, Inuyasha sat in the tree, frowning as he watched for intruders of both kinds.

"Kagome?" Souta called softly, walking toward the well house. "We need to get ready for our turn at the gates. Saya wants to guard with us."

"Ok, I'm about done here anyway." She said, brushing dust off of her old school uniform. She had been washing dishes, Shippo helping her.

"Alice-chan, why don't you go upstairs to my room and get the manga I was talking about? It will give you something to do." Kagome asked the little girl Sango had rescued.

"Onee-san, I don't want to. I want to guard the gates with you." Alice said, holding on to the hem of her skirt.

"Alice-chan," Saeko asked the little girl, "why don't you come with me and we'll get dinner ready for everyone? I will bet that everyone will be so hungry when they get home."

"Ok!" Alice smiled, jumped up from her seat, and followed the tall, dark haired girl.

Sesshomaru stared after the tall female samurai. She was beautiful, her dark eyes, black hair, and slender figure were exquisite to him. He began to see why his father had fallen for the human that was his half-brother's mother. This strong, brave, ruthless, bloodthirsty woman had captured his attention, and quite possibly his heart.

He followed her silently, amused at her ability to handle the little girl. He had the sneaking suspicion that he may learn something about how to deal with Rin.

"If you want to follow me, then you can help, Mr. Icy." The girl said, catching him by surprise. "And stop stalking me. It's weird." She turned and gave him a sly smile as she held out her hand to the Inu demon.

** ** ** ** ** Jinenji ** ** ** **

Jinenji, the giant half horse demon, was working with the wood Inuyasha had salvaged from the nearby buildings, both homes and businesses. Each piece of wood worked into a complex latticework made to keep out the living dead yet allow those inside to climb easily. It was a task he alone was suited for, both for his size and for his skill with wood. He tended the garden in the back corner of the compound, and made the walls higher and higher before moving out a few hundred feet and starting on a second wall around the shrine.

He used a lot of what was already there, the natural buildings and trees, the containment walls, and added to them, blocking windows and doors, blocking stairs and walkways from the living dead and the living alike. He was making a gate at the front of the property when he heard a loud crash. The crash was followed by screams then by a loud clang of a heavy, metal door. The moans of the dead and the dying filled the streets. The bright flash in the sky seemed to be of great importance.

"Please! Save us!" The scream echoed through the streets. He frowned, looked back toward the shrine, and continued on his assigned task; making the wall. Kagome had told him to ignore others, to kill the walking dead as he found them, but the cries for help were the most difficult to ignore. He felt the urge to go out and to rescue the humans who needed rescuing, but he couldn't. Not with the new moon so close at hand. It would ascend tonight, leaving himself and the Hanyou, Inuyasha, in human form. That was part of why the wall was so important.

"I'm sorry." he told the voice, and continued on his work. Their lives depended on this wall as much as it depended on the weapons the others were amassing. "I'd help if I could." He muttered before laying another huge board across an alley. Effectively blocking it before binding it in place.

** ** ** ** ** ** Takagi ** ** ** ** ** **

The hummer was making it's way down the hill, then upward toward the shrine. A massive road-block was in the immediate path of the tank and they were about to pull off onto a side street. Tanks were difficult to move, add in the wrecked bus and rambling dead, and there was an impassable obstacle in their way. At least in that direction.

They headed through a small park, then onto another main road, toward the shrine. Ahead they spotted a giant half-horse demon as he prepared to lay a pre-fabricated wall over the way.

Kilala swooped down toward the demon, Sango calling out to Jinenji to stop for a moment, at least long enough to let the hummer through. "Thanks, big guy." She patted him on the shoulder as she stood on Kilala's back.

"This is a wonderful idea." She told him, grinning as the hummer passed through the blockade.

"After that flash, there was a loud crash and people calling for help." He told her, frowning, pointing in the direction of the main bridge.

"We have to look out for those who are currently in our own group. When we are set up, we'll start rescuing others." She assured him.

"Okay, Sango." he said, placing the blockade in place. It was heavy enough to need most of his strength. The new moon weighed heavily on his mind. "Sango, the new moon is tonight. I can feel it." He said, frowning.

"Oh, hell." She muttered, agreeing with the sentiment.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** Mr. Shido ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

He woke, head pounding, chest aching, arm sore, and wished he'd died. But he was alive, and that wa all that mattered at the moment. They were probably very close to the Higurashi shrine, and his most devout desciple was at his side, her head in his lap. He brushed the hair from her face lovingly. She truly was beautiful. A gorgeous girl to bring into the world a new era.

She moaned softly, reminding him of earlier that day, the paradise in the bus. "Shido-sama." She muttered, her eyes fluttering open.

"Yes, my child. I'm here." He said soothingly to her. She lifted her face from his lap to look into his eyes. She was slightly confused and it showed on her face.

"We were thrown from the bus when it crashed. You and I landed under a tank. I carried you inside to safety." He told her, smiling down at her face as it blushed a bit. "I saved you, just like you saved me." He said in answer to her unspoken question.

"Oh, Shido-san." She smiled and kissed him. He kissed her back, then pushed her back. He needed to see if it was safe to go outside, to run.

"Do you think you can look out of the gunner's hatch? That port up there? My leg seems to be asleep." He said, acting as if standing up in the cramped space was painful.

"Of course, of course. Let me just look." The girl answered, then stood on the gunner's seat, giving him a wonderful show of the underside of her short skirt, her pink, frilly panties. "I don't see any. It looks like the bus is destroyed. Do you think we could start the tank?" She asked him, jumping down from the nest.

"I can try." He said, unblocking the doorway carefully, then, with a wrench in his hand he walked toward the cockpit. It was empty of occupants as he'd seen earlier. Both doors were shut, but not locked. He locked both doors before sitting in the driver's seat.

"This should work..." He thought to himself before he located the 'on' switch. Easy enough, big red button, says power, he pushed it.

Then he pushed it again, and again, nothing. No sounds of an engine trying to turn over but failing because of a lack of fuel. No clicking, just dead silence. In frustration he shoved himself up from the driver's seat, slamming his head on the low roof.

Cursing under his breath, he looked out of the side window while rubbing his sore head and saw a wall coming into being only a few hundred yards out. Just that wall meant more people to be saved, more people to save him, more disciples. The sun was setting, the street lights not coming on. The grid must be down, he thought to himself. It was a reassuring thought.

"We need to get to that wall before the sun sets." He said to the frightened girl behind him. "They will save us." He smiled reassuringly back up at her.

"Ok. Let's get out of here before more of them come." She said, shifting her grip on the lead pipe she'd found.

"Let's go." He said then, "Be very, very quiet." He opened the door to the hummer, making sure it was unlocked behind him just in case.

********* At the Shrine *******************

Kagome was sitting across from the gate, the only one visible to the outside world. The wall Jinenji was building was strong and tall. The others had gotten back over an hour ago, and it was almost time to set that night's watch rotation. She'd hardly slept in the last two days so she hoped to get the first watch.

The sun was setting, but the moon wasn't rising. She frowned at the sky. Jinenji was walking back toward the gate, the wood for the opening was in his hands. He nodded up toward her. She stood, motioning the others to follow her. Rei, Shippo and Takashi, who had been close by, came out of the gates, battle ready. Her bow was strung, the arrow resting against the bow, but not pulled taught.

Rei carried a rifle with a bayonet attached to the end., Takashi carried a riot-shotgun, and his baseball bat, the latter strung across his back with a thin, breakable wire. Shippo came with nothing but his bag of tricks. His foxfire was, he reasoned, enough to keep anyone away.

"Kagome, these two seek shelter." Jinenji said, then stepped aside.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** Shido *** *** *** *** ***

Shido and the girl approached the wall just as the sun began to set, the giant building the wall paused as he placed the last piece in place. "Please, help us!" He called softly to the giant.

"I'll take you to Kagome." Jinenji said nodding to himself. This he could do and not risk the gate being unfinished.

He was losing strength with the sun. He carried the last bit of wall with him as he walked back toward the shrine. He went only part of the way before some of the group came out to meet him.

"Kagome, these two seek shelter." He said in his deep, booming voice. He turned and walked away to finish his job with the wall. 

He smiled brightly at the black haired girl and her tiny friend. Then comprehension dawned on him. Miyamoto and Komuro were there. They had survived.

"We seek shelter for the night." He begged, "Please, I don't care for myself, but for this poor student that I saved."

"Saved?" Takashi asked, frowning.

"You didn't save a damned thing. WE saved you and your students, then you tried to hold Marikawa hostage. You and that 'poor student' you saved." Saya had appeared behind them.

"You are the reason I had to repeat the grade. You're the only one that could have messed with the grades. You are the reason my Father came to me in tears, apologizing to me on hands and knees. He begged me for forgiveness because his police investigation into your father made me have to repeat the grade. You are a bastard!" She shouted at him, the gun was pressed under his throat. 

"Rei!" Takashi cried out, trying to grab her arm, to force her away from the lunatic teacher. He was held back by Kagome. "What the hell?" He demanded.

"She needs to do this." Kagome said, watching.

"If you want to kill me, then kill me, just spare this girl." He said, smiling down at her. "And can you live with yourself if you kill me? As a teacher, if my death can mean something to you for the rest of your life, then take it. Kill me."

Rei snarled, the smile on his face disgusted her, but his death, that wouldn't be on her. She shifted the gun away from him, spat on the ground. "You're not worth the effort." She snarled before walking back to the gate.

'You stupid, weak, bitch.' thought Shido, before the raven haired girl smiled sweetly at him.

"Shippo?" Kagome asked, looking down at her short, kitsune friend.

"Yeah?" He asked, a frown of disapproval on her face.

"Foxfire." She snapped the words out.

"Got ya." He told her, then lit the teacher in front of him on fire with hot, but non-damaging flames.

The man screamed like a banshee, high pitched, shrill screams. Kagome motioned for him to inflict the punishment on the girl as well. She had no mercy, neither did the others. Rei may have walked away, but the evil in this world, no matter what form it takes, must be banished. They had learned that with Naraku the hard way. Kagome had seen the aura of evil surrounding this man like miasma, poisoning the very air near him. He had already infected the girl. They both would die.

"Inuyasha!" She called out, the hanyou who had been watching from the tree jumped down to land beside her.

"Kagome?" he asked, arching a brow at her.

"Take these two outside." She said, the finality of death in her words.

The two lay, still on fire, on the hard asphalt. He knelt next to them, grabbing them by the backs of their shirts, and he felt the change overtake him, the human sliding away from demon, the demon sliding away and gone, leaving him weak.

He sighed, cursing, and as he'd knelt a white haired, dog eared hanyou, he stood a black haired human.

"Kouga!" Kagome called out, the wolf demon came running,

"Take these two into the most populated dead zone you can find, and drop them in the middle." She said, her gaze icy.

"Wow, you are so beautiful when you are merciless." Kouga smiled at her, tossing the man over one shoulder, the girl under an arm.

"Oh, and Kouga?" She spoke again before he could run off. "Make sure they are awake when you toss them in." She said, ice dripping from every word.

"Gladly." he smiled, then ran with the duo. He easily located a large herd, stopped atop a large vehicle with no doors on the roof, and laid the two out.

He backhanded the Male. The scent of naraku was distant but there. He hated that demon.

This was justice. He slapped the female much more lightly. She was a pawn, a fool.

"Wakey wakey." He smiled, his fangs showing. "It's time for this wolf demon to go." He grinned, then vanished.

"What?!" Shido demanded, sitting up. He was on the roof of a bus. He and the girl. He immediately shut his mouth, clapping his hand over the girl's mouth as well.

"Fuck." He growled, they were surrounded on all sides. "We're dead..." He muttered.

He stood on the bus, screaming at the skies. He made the girl scream with him. He watched as the zombies around them crowd around the front of the bus. He smiled, told her to keep screaming as he checked the rear of the bus. He slipped down the back of it, sprinting away from the racket she was making.

He ran, breath coming in short gasps, his side ached, his voice hoarse from screaming earlier. He ran around the corner and strait into the mouth of a waiting zombie. The bite was on his upraised arm. He screamed, the voice tearing through his throat.

"Shit!" He screamed, arching back. As he arched back, another one bit him in the shoulder. A bite came from nowhere to the back of his thigh. He screamed again. Teeth tore into flesh, hands digging and tearing, the monsters ate him. In one, tiny corner of his mind he heard laughing. He didn't know If he heard it, or if it was just in his head. The deep, throaty laugh of the long dead. It was the end. His end. And it came, groaning, down the mouths of the walking dead.

********88 AN****************

Yes, this is twice as long as my normal updates. It is a special occasion :] I killed 'em. Happy dance.

-Yes, I just did that. No, you can't do anything about it. -me


	12. Chapter 12: Dead Interlude Part 1

8Thanks guys for all the love. I'm glad you enjoyed the last scene. I wanted to go into more gory details but I didn't thin it was apt for the site. I'll probably upload another, more graphic version later.

Anyways, me being the clumsy oaf that I am, I managed to dump boiling water on my left hand and wrist and arm, so... tonight's chappie is going to be super short. Sorry about that, but that's why they make Author's Notes right? For updates? Lol. Anyways, here's your story:

8*********** Chapter 12 Dead Interlude *************************8

"This wall is great Jinenji." Saeko said, smiling up at the giant half-demon, her blue-black hair was stirring in a slight wind. 

"Thank you..." Jinenji muttered, blushing.

"No, really. This means we have an early warning should things start to go bad. We can get out." Saeko patted the demon on his arm. He was a gentle giant, seemingly unaffected by the turn for crazy that had gripped the rest of humanity.

She remembered the foxfire that Shippo had used on Shido, smiling. Then the cold edict that the two should be killed. Not by them, but by leaving them in the middle of zombies. A truly gruesome kill. She was somewhat surprised, however she was silently pleased that their new team members knew that evil must be eliminated on sight.

A just end for a sick, psychotic bastard. She nodded to herself, then she walked away from the wall.

The sun was coming up, the night had passed in relative peace. Each group of three had kept watch, reporting nothing when they all were awake for breakfast, which Jinenji had so generously cooked for them all.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, frowning.

"Yes, Inuyasha?" She looked at him over the breakfast table with the ten others. Kagome and Inuyasha sat together. Sesshomaru sat with Saeko, Rei and Kohta, Miroku and Sango, Miss Marikawa and Alice, the girl they'd rescued from the balcony, Shippo was on the roof, Kaede and Kilala keeping them company as Koga scouted for probably the hundredth time that day.

"Do you think that what we did was right?" He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"In this world, with evil in the form of dead bodies walking, we don't need the ones in human skins to have to watch our backs against. He felt like Naraku. He had to die. " Kagome said resollutely, holding onto her mother's favorite comb.

"Ok, Kagome." He said, vaguely afraid of this new side of his Miko. Yet, he was also strangely attracted to this side of her as well. 

Miroku sat against the wall, his hand hidden behind his leg. He glanced down, the sickly black and green of a bruise was spreading like ooze up his arm, toward his heart. He felt the necrolysis creeping up his arm, the curse of those he'd consumed was beginning to work on him. He stood shakily, and walked outside.

He thought about killing himself, but the thought of coming back as one of those things. One of the walking dead,, with no control over himself.

"Miroku?" Sango had followed him, her frown was cute. "Are you ok?

"Yeah. I'm alright. I'm going to take a walk." He told her, then headed over to the garden to walk alone. His arm felt dead, dying. He knelt to pray, one thing he had left to him. Prayer.

He walked slowly toward the door, hair in his face.

************** A-N *******************

Yup. Super Short chapter, but I promise more next time.


	13. Chapter 13: Dead Interlude Part Two

Yeah, it's another interlude, we needed some fluff, some character development, and a particular scene that has begged to be played out, and I so gladly provide :P

************* Miroku and Sango ********************

Sango stopped Miroku with a hand on his chest, her face was shrouded in shadows. She enveloped him in a hug, a tight, clinging hug. "I love you, you lecherous monk." She whispered to him.

"I love you too, Sango." He said into her raven hair. "I don't know what I should do."

"Come with me." She said, releasing him.

She pulled him away from the gate, away from the death he sought. He allowed himself to be pulled away from his ultimate destination. He always knew the vortex would kill him, but the method, this way, was so unexpected.

She led the way into the shrine, into the back room, where a pallet waited. "Sango.." He said, confused.

"Miroku, love me. Make love to me." She grabbed him, her lips a breath away from hers. He was breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Oh, god, yes." Miroku whispered back, as he slipped his robe from his shoulders. His staff lay at the door, all but forgotten. He pulled her sheathes off first, disarming her. She was the thing he'd die to protect, the thing he was dying to protect. She was his heart.

In the darkness of night, they exchanged vows, vows that would be short lived, but vows. She loved him with all that she was, and he loved her with everything inside of himself. He was smiling in his sleep as she watched him. A fever took him, one not unlike the ones caused by Naraku.

She lay with him as dawn broke, watched his chest rise and fall, watched his breath passing through his lips for what seemed like forever before he stirred. She did not want to miss a single second of the time left with him.

They made love again as the sun crested the horizon. Breaths co-mingling in the dawn light. The dawn sky danced with it's colored spirals over the city of the damned.

*********** Inuyasha and Kagome ****************

Kagome smiled up at the Hanyou, her hair was falling in soft waves down her back as she sat opposite of Inuyasha at the fence. She didn't know where the others were, nor did she care. They had a mode of escape, they had the well, and they had each other.

Inuyasha had moved from his post on the other side of the fence to sit in front of her. His lips brushed her temple.

"This stuff is crazy, Inuyasha. All of it. It's like something out of a comic book or a horrible movie. Zombies, and now demons are fighting in the streets." Luckily they had seen no zombies since the outer wall had been completed. One of the demons was making a perimeter check, this time it was Sesshomaru.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha said, breathing in the scent of her raven hair.

"I know, Inuyasha, I know." Kagome responded, hugging the Hanyou fiercely.

"We'll make it." He told her, smiling at her, before settling his eyes on the far gate. His demon hearing picking up the sound of a moving herd.

************8 Takagi and Rei ********************

Takagi and Rei were walking together on the road as they walked through the street. "We are probably the last people out here." Rei said, frowning as she heard the unceasing moaning of the dead.

"How can you say that Rei?" Takagi demanded, waving a hand at the shrine.

"What do you mean Takagi? We are the only people we've seen since yesterday." She told him, shaking her head. "And the cell towers and all of the electronics are dead. What are the chances of finding your mom? Or my dad? What about Kohta's family? Or Takagi's? What about Miss Marikawa? We heard what happened to Kagome's mom, to her grandpa, what about what happened to Hisashi, huh? He got bit, now he's dead. Just dead..." Her words were cut off with a loud slap. She fell to the ground, hand to her face.

"Look. I don't know about anything except that we are alive, we can fight, and we have people who wil back us up if we get in trouble. That's all we can ask for. We'll find them if and when we can. Until then, we have to stay safe. Do you understand that?" Takagi's fist was clenched, his jaw ached where he'd been grinding his teeth.

"Get up, Rei. We've got to finish our patrol, then we can go get some sleep. Kohta and Saeko are supposed to take over when we get back." He held out his hand, shanking, Rei took it and stood. They continued their walk, missing the blackened stump that slid slowly through a gap in the fence even as it shredded itself.

************* Kaede *************

Kaede was tending the cooking fire, her gi and hakama were lit easily by the fire. Shippo dozed across the fire from her, Kilala was curled around her leg, keeping her warm.

The American swordswoman and the youkai lord were talking quietly beside the God tree. She had the feeling that the human and the demon were close, closer than they should have been. Words in English kept repeating themselves. She couldn't understand most of what was being said. She shook her head and checked on the food. It was a beef stew.

"Kill those damned things before they kill you." Sesshomaru told her, a hand on her shoulder. "You can do this."

She smiled up at him. "I know. You've told me before. You need to do the same."

"Kaede, please, keep an eye on this girl." Sesshomaru addressed the older woman.

"Kaede-sama, please keep an eye on this overly arrogant Youkai Lord." Gabrielle smiled, slapping Sesshomaru on the arm.

Kaede arched an eyebrow, her amusement and astonishment at the familiarity of the American girl.

************* Across town **************

A woman walked toward the wire gate that they had placed over the street. Her guns were light compared to the body armor. "Mrs Takagi, it's been three days, I doubt the recon teams will find her." A man walked toward her bearing a burned out phone.

"I know my daughter is out there. She's not safe until she is with me. We will find my daughter, do we have an understanding?" She told him, pulling the visor up on her face shield. Her eyes pierced the man in front of her. Her husband would be checking the other routes to the house even as she thinned the ranks of the dead making their way here.

Too much sound, too much light, the group was making way too much of both. They would have to move soon.

************ A/N *************************

Ok, I know, it's a short-ish chapter, but it needed a little bit of fleshing out. As a bonus: can you figure out which scene was begging to be played out? Lol. A little quizlet for you. :)

Despicable Dumb A** syndrome.-random chick at work.


	14. Chapter 14: Dead Brawl

Ok, so I have a set of scenes in my head, most of them are a bit odd, and a few of them are epic. You will find them as I see them and are able to bring them forth. Hopefully, you get one per chapter, yayness if you get two. That's my goal. Any more, the plot's turning too fast, any less, not enough plot per chapter.

Thanks for the reviews, I'm about to throw a humongous monkey wrench into the plot. . I'll show you something you'd never have thought about. Also, I love the support and encouragement. I have a feeling I'll be throwing myself into my stories very soon. I have about a month of unending sorrow ahead of me. Here's hoping it only lasts the month. Otherwise I'll have to do some very mean things that would be definitely be classified as immoral... ah well.

Aaaaand on with the show -

**************************** Higurashi Shrine 8:05 a.m. ********************************

Sesshomaru and Gabrielle stood, staring down at the mass of zombies. They were getting thick on the wall. The thickness of the bodies outside was causing the wood to protrude inward at an alarming rate and the disgusting, desiccated ooze that was filtering though the grain was both disturbing and hazardous.

The small platform had been set up much like the ones like it that surrounded the outer wall by Jinenji

The insanity of what lay below them was maddening. Saeko and Takashi stood on the platform about a dozen meters to the left, Kagome and Inuyasha on the one to the right.

"Please tell me we don't need to go down there." Saya said, she and Kohta were sitting atop the original gate to the shrine.

"If we don't thin out the herd, they will knock down the wall, completely defeating the purpose in the wall and we will be overrun in seconds." Kohta said, and it was seconded by Saeko.

"But we can't shoot them, it will bring too much noise." Saya pouted.

Kouga, who had hung back until now, stepped forward and onto the thinning barrier.

"I can make a dent without making a sound, but I will need help if we want to clear this whole area." He said, frowning.

"I will help." Saeko volunteered.

"As will I." Sesshomaru said, nodding to himself before looking at Gabrielle. "You shall stay here." He told her.

"Oh, the hell I will." She snarled, stepping toward the hoard.

He grabbed her arm, pulled her back. "You will stay at the shrine." He told her fiercely.

She snarled, then smacked him in the head. "You're a damned fool, I don't care if you're the father of my great grandmother. You can't take on that many without some help. I know that."

"And how do you expect to get down there? Jump?" Saya demanded.

"Nope,we can have Saeko, Sesshomaru, Kouga, and Inuyasha outside thinning the herd, and Kagome and Kohta can watch as snipers." Gabrielle suggested. "Sango and I, of course, will be providing air support. Others will run errands and deliver messages." She said, definitively, leaving no room for argument.

A tiny hand shot up into the air. "Um.." The girl said.

"Yes, Alice?" Gabrielle turned to the little girl.

"What should I do?" The pink haired little girl asked, fidgeting a bit.

"Alice-chan, you should stay with Shippo and help him keep watch on the roof. It will be a very important job, can you do it?" Gabrielle suggested.

"Yes, I think so." She said before walking back toward the main gate of the shrine.

"Good, now, let's go kill some dead people." Gabrielle said, quite loudly, before jumping from her platform to land on a walking bridge that led out to the rear of the hoarde.

"Stop being so reckless!" Takashi hissed at her, before joining her. The same bridge ran across the wall opposite of the set of four platforms. Each end of the bridge was blocked off to prevent zombies, otherwise, it would have been torn down.

She turned, tilted her head and grinned at him through her black eyelashes. "But this is what I do best." She turned away and walked down to street level, jumping over the barricade made to keep the dead out but let the living out as well.

"Gabrielle!" Sesshomaru called, a bit too loudly, drawing attention to himself. He raced toward her slashing at a zombie before it could fall upon her from the balcony above.

"Sesshomaru-kun, I can look out for myself." She smiled at the Youkai lord. A corpse was falling toward him, seemingly in silence. She looked up and frowned at this new development which was faling toward him. She stabbed out behind him, peircing the demon thr]ough the throat.

"How in the hell?' Sesshomaru muttered, dodging slightly after the fact. "You shouldn't be that fast." he told her.

"You shouldn't be that slow." She told him, gouging another zombie through the eye as it approached him.

They danced the deadly dance of blade and blood, ending the existences of dozens, if not hundreds of the undead creatures that surrounded them with gnashing teeth and tearing nails, infected blood flew through the air, soaking the ground, spilling onto blades and hands. This dance lasted from 11 am until nearly six, several, and at times grueling hours.

"This is insane." Takashi called over, he and Saeko were both surrounded, but fierce expressions of glee graced their sweaty faces. Inuyasha and Kouga were fighting back to back, both had hands bloody to the elbows. Similar expressions of murderous joy were on their faces.

The desperate feeling that had pervaded the morning air was now one of victory. That victory that was both easily and hardly won. The blood and gore was fantastic and horrible at the same time. The dead piled around them, the smell putrefying the air in a miasma.

"Those bodies will collect vermin you know." Saya called down from the wall.

"Good point, Takagi! Boys! Time for cleanup duty." Gabrielle shouted, the dead around them were completely lifeless.

From the roar and cries of dead to complete silence was both strange and unnerving. No birds trilled in the distance, nor any crickets in the grass dyed red and black by the blood of the dead.

"Where are we going to put these bastards?" Inuyasha asked, frowning, toeing a displaced arm.

"Those poor bastards you are referring to are the humans who were killed by a virus. We just ended their suffering, Inuyasha. Please, have a bit of respect for the dead" Kaede said from the wall. It was only a mild scolding at worst, however the Hanyou had the decency to look suitably ashamed.

"They're only humans..." He muttered to himself earning him glares from both his brother and Kouga.

"We need to be ready for the next wave." Kagome called out. Miroku was standing on the wall now, watching over the carnage. He began saying prayers for the dead. As each dessicated body passed him, he pulled another bead from his sacred chain, whispering prayers for the dead to find their peace at last.

"Let's put them in the building three blocks down, we can burn it down when they are all inside. Kouga, can you put them up on the second floor and the roof?" Gabrielle asked, pointing to the long abandoned building at the bottom of the hill.

"Aye, he can, and I will help." Inuyasha said, nodding before jumping with a load of the dead toward the building in question.

"I shall help as well, then." Sesshomaru said, a bit sulkily. He picked up a corpse and it turned it's head slightly, biting at his arm. It could not pierce his over-coat, but the shock of the dead alive, decapitated, and biting him was a bit much even for the demon lord.

"Ok, people, demons, new rule. Double tap." Gabrielle said, smiling as she took the head from Sesshomaru's arm, pulling a short knife from her sleeve, and driving it through the ear, through the 10 milimeter space occupied by nothing but cartilage. She quickly scrambled the brains of the dead, then tossed it back at Sesshomaru who caught it deftly.

"And by the way, Sesh?" Gabrielle asked, motioning him closer.

"Yes, Gabrielle?"

He received a smack on the side of his head, then a kiss on the cheek by the American. "Don't act foolishly." She told him sternly before walking away.

"Um... What just happened?" Inuyasha asked Saeko, frowning.

"Your brother, the great Youkai Lord, was just put into his place by an American human girl." Saeko grinned, patting the Hanyou on the back. "That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" She asked, smiling.

"That was both relaxing and a great release of tension." Miroku, who had been on the gate for backup smiled at the two. Kagome remained on the wall, looking out for more of the undead. The sun was beginning to set.

"Let's set that place on fire as soon as we get all of them set up. It should be safe, but just to be sure let's make sure none of the buildings close by are ready to go up like matchboxes." Kagome said from the wall.

"These dead piled up will bring vermin and plague. With the power out, we'll have to do things like fetch water by hand. So let''s make sure we have plenty before we set the place ablaze." Saya said from her position beside Kagome.

"Good point, Takagi, Let's collect some water before we set them on fire. No need in wasting the resources we have here, we'll get water from toilet bowls and from the pressure backed up in the sinks." Rei commented.

"Demon boys, get the dead piled up, we'll get the water and call if we need any help, we'll be just down the hill." Gabrielle shouted to them as the moved the bodies that had been strewn on the ground like so much gory confetti. "And dont forget to double tap, destroy the brain."

The girls came into some great luck as they descended the hill and found a water tower that still had water in it. The gravity pressure would force water out, and it was only one building up from the makeshift mortuary and crematory. If they were careful about water consumption they could both survive on the water and put out any out of control fires.

As the sun set in the west, the fire blazed up, lighting up their whole end of Tokyo. The smoke was black with the scent of burning human flesh emanating from the fire.

Two hills away, closer to the suicide forest, was the Takagi residence, where Mrs. Takagi was standing on her front porch, watching the inferno through a pair of binoculars, her husband stood beside of her, watching the same scene. Above the fire, on a building behind it, stood a young girl with pink pigtails, The article around the girl's neck and the fact that the pigtails were pink had grabbed her attention.

"I think that's her, my love." She said, putting a hand on her husband's arm.

"I think you are right, darling. Our daughter is alive. She is alive and well. We will go to her tomorrow, it's too dangerous to travel at night. Too many lurkers." He told her, grinning.

********************* Author's Note **********************

Ok, the scene that was hitting me was of Sesshy getting smacked up-side the head by a human and him actually taking it. It was funny. In other words, you got one of the scenes I have planned out. I've got a twisted sense of humor, and a love of the macabre.

Also, don't forget the three R's. Read, Rate and Review! :)

-Sane? I never claimed that. Who dares call me that? -me


	15. Chapter 15: Saving Dead Zero

I must apologize profusely for my last update, I am replacing it with this one. The next chapter will soon follow and make much more sense. I love you guys.

To clarify slightly: Zero, or Zeke depending on which source you look at, is a puppy, he's black and white and cute. He defends Alice many times throughout the series and it just didn't seem right leaving him out. Add in the fact that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are both Dog demons it just makes the scene cute.

Alice is also referred to as Arisu in the anime, but her name in the Manga is Alice. She's both adorable and bad-ass at the age of 7.

Now, I must gush, just a bit.. I love you all. Reviews make my day, they make me smile, and for some reason, when I bare my soul in my stories, it is ok. I think writing is both therapeutic and healthy, and the fact that people are enjoying my stories is something I look forward to every single day.

And enough of my weirdness, and on with the show.

************* At the Higurashi Shrine ***************

Inuyasha snarled, there was something at the gate. It was barking, a high pitched, annoying sound. Among the barking came the moans of the recently deceased. The moans were following the sound of the dog. Cursing under his breath, he stood to go to the gate.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Takashi asked, frowning.

"There's a damned dog by the gate. I'm going to kill it so it'll shut up." He said, brushing past the human boy.

The little girl, Alice, the one with the unruly pink hair that Kagome seemed to love so much, jumped up and stood in his way. "Don't you dare! That is an innocent puppy you big meany. You hurt him and I'll kick you!" The girl placed her hands to either side of the doorway, blocking Inuyasha's passage.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha complained, looking to the black haired Miko who was standing in the candle-lit kitchen with Saeko, the samurai girl, and Sango, the demon hunter. All three black haired girls looked at him like he'd stepped in crap and was dragging it across the floor.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome said, the second word out of her mouth, he was sure, was going to be 'sit', before the demon hunter laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Kagome, maybe..." Sango said, frowning.

"I believe the dog may provide warning of an attack, at the most, and a diversion for little Alice at the least." Saeko said, brushing a lock of long black hair behind her shoulder.

Saya, looking up from a book she had found, nodded in agreement.

"I say we go get him." Kohta interjected, making a motion toward the door.

"But dogs hate me..." Inuyasha detested the whine in his voice, but it was there none the less.

Sesshomaru looked between the four women and the two boys, then looked at his brother. "I will go fetch the pup, if you so wish." He said, looking at the fifth woman. Gabrielle was sitting with Rei and Saya. It made an odd picture, the three girls, one cleaning weapons, one strapping a blade onto a carved staff, the third reading a book, all three were near the picture window, sitting where the sun was coming in.

Gabrielle looked up at the Youkai lord, shook her head, smiled, and, finally, nodded.

"Brother, come." Sesshomaru stepped toward Alice. "Little one, I will fetch the pup for you. He will remain unharmed." He told her in his most solemn vow.

Alice looked from him to his brother and back again, she nodded and stepped aside.

"Brother, come." Sesshomaru commanded and walked out. Inuyasha snarled something under his breath to the effect of 'stupid girls' and followed his brother.

With Kaede, Shippo, Jinenji, and Miroku keeping watch it was easy to find the dog. Jinenji and Miroku were both attempting to call the dog into the gate where it could crawl through the bars. Both were frightening the poor animal more than the zombies, which seemed to only anger the poor beast.

Sesshomaru walked up to the gate, between the two on guard, and leapt over it. With a slice of his claws he decapitated four zombies and knelt to sweep the dog into his arm before jumping back over the fence with the grace borne of Youkai blood.

"Brother, meet the dog." He held the pup out to Inuyasha. He barked at the Hanyou, wiggling in Sesshomaru's arms. Sesshomaru looked down at the dog, it was white with black patches, a cute thing, if one would call a dog that. Something he thought Gabrielle, Rin, and Alice would think. "Dog." He addressed it, turning it to face him. The dog immediately went still and looked down in deference.

"Good. Do not harm humans, do not harm those inside of the fence. Be a good dog. And stop trying to get at the Hanyou." Sesshomaru said to him, and the dog went further limp in acceptance of Sesshomaru's orders. Sesshomaru then handed the dog to his brother. "Be nice to the dog."

Inuyasha looked down at the bundle of white fur in his hand. The dog looked up at him with curiosity instead of animosity. Frowning, he carried the dog with him back toward the door and the waiting Alice.

"Oh! He's so cute!" She cried loudly, snatching the dog from his hands.

"What should we name him?" Rei asked, coming over to her, Kohta in close persuit.

"I think we should name him Zero. After the Z Fighter Planes. Plus he's a tiny thing, like a rocket. I'll bet he's been surviving all alone this whole time." Kohta said, hand on his chin.

The dog perked his ears, then barked a short, happy bark.

"Zero?" Alice asked, frowning, the dog licked her chin, changing the frown to one of a surprised grin. "Ok, Zero it is." She laughed as the dog licked her again.

"Breakfast is ready." Saeko said, placing the last plate on the table.

"Awesome!" Inuyasha leapt at the chance for food. He loved the food here if nothing else.

"I'll take food out to the others." Saeko volunteered, "My plate is in the oven. Don't touch it." She warned before gathering five boxes of food and taking them with her outside.

"Sango, where's Kohaku?" Kagome asked.

"He's up in the god tree, watching out for Kouga. He's scouting for survivors." Sango told her, handing her a dish.

Nodding, Kagome took it, and, after pulling her portion off, passed the plate. She placed aside a portion of her food to give to Zero, which she placed into a small bowl in front of the dog. He ate greedily, licking each crumb from the bowl.

Laughing at the much needed tension break, each person, aside from Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, took turns giving the dog some of their food.

************* Kouga **************

Kouga had run from rooftop to rooftop, scouting for signs of human life. He smelled the dead everywhere. He found them both walking and completely dead. The completely dead had been mostly suicides.

Shots to the head from handguns, knife wounds on wrists, a few murders, all in all it was a very grisly scene to come across each time he encountered it. It was both depressing and nauseating to see the carnage that these humans preferred to the death that came at the hands of their fellow humans.

Death upon death overwhelmed his sense of smell until he could hardly breathe for the smell of rot. The foul of the truly dead, the sickly sweet of the undead. Once domestic pets were out of food, he let these out where he found them, but most were feasting on their dead humans.

This was a sad and grisly sight. These animals he killed as quickly as possible after trying to rescue the first set. He'd been set upon by a group of cats in one of the first and very few natural deaths he'd encountered. It was an elderly, obese woman. She had five or six cats in the house, and not quite enough cat food. They had resorted to eating their previous owner.

Cursing, he'd walked into the apartment, it had had a sign in the window, a survivor sign. She had died a natural death, he smelled it. As he walked into the room, the cats had scattered, the grisly scene in front of him, the cats moving to either side of him, reminding him of a pack.

The leader, a rather large tomcat, sat on the chest of his owner, a challenge. He tried to shoo the cats away from the dead woman. The taste of human flesh changed animals. As he took a step into the room, his calf burst into pain as a cat attacked him with teeth and claw. He cursed, stepped forward, shaking his leg.

Another cat launched itself onto his arm, screaming, he slammed it against the wall, breaking the neck of the feline. It didn't deter the others, though. They all attacked him as a pack. He ended up with bite marks all over his legs and arms, blood up to his elbows as he snapped each feline's neck or crushed it's skull. Last of all was the tom. He broke it's neck with a snarl as it latched itself onto his throat.

He hated cats. Evil, vicious beasts. Most of the dogs he found hadn't had a taste of their owners, or their owners had been absent. These and others like them he let out into the streets to find their own way as he continued to look for other living humans. He stayed away from the compound with the wire-traps, and instead wandered toward the center of town.

As the sun began to reach it's zenith, he shook his head, he hadn't made much progress throughout the day, he hadn't even made it to the bridges yet. He frowned and turned back toward the shrine.

****************** Miroku ************************

Miroku was trying not to cradle the arm that held his wind tunnel. He was finding it excruciatingly difficult to act normally. He ground his teeth in pain. "Gods, please, let this end." He mouthed the prayer.

Agony pulsed through him with each beat of his heart. He was beginning to turn. He knew it. He watched the other demons watching him carefully. He didn't know what would happen to his wind tunnel if he did turn. Would it consume him? Would it go away? Would he finally be free of the constant worry of the thing in his hand? He had no clue of the answer to any of these questions.

After lunch, he took a break from the gate, finding Sango by the god tree talking to her brother.

As he approached, her brother made some excuse and walked away, leaving her to meet him alone.

Smiling, a special smile meant just for him, she reached up her hand to bring him down to her side on the grass.

He smiled at the caress of her hand. Creased and calloused, used to weapons, a feeling he had become accustomed to over the last few years. Both with violence and with tenderness. She had made love to him last night, a glorious, blessed night. He smiled at the thought, she smiled back at him with warmth in her eyes.

"Miroku, you are in pain." She said, her eyes showing a hint of worry.

"Only a little. You can make it go away if you wish." He said, suggestively and looking toward the well house.

"Oh, I think I do wish." She smiled, stood, and pulled him toward the well house.

************* Sesshomaru and Inuyasha ********************

"Gods, they are like rabbits." Inuyasha snarled, shaking his head as he heard the demon hunter and the monk in the well house.

"Yes, but that is human love, young love, a fleeting thing at most." Sesshomaru said, smiling at his brother. "You still have not deflowered the Miko?" He asked with an arched brow.

They were on watch duty, which consisted of sitting on the roof in the blazing winter sun.

"What?!" Inuyasha demanded, his face immediately going red.

"Ah, so you have not. Brother, you must claim her before she is claimed by another, such as the wolf." Sesshomaru advised. "She is yours right?"

"She's a human, a miko, I'm a Hanyou. We... we shouldn't... we..." Inu trailed off.

"She is yours. She looks at you like you are the very air." Sesshomaru said, smiling.

"You mean I'm invisible?" Inuyasha asked, frowning. His brother's words were confusing and, more often than not, infuriating.

"You are the most important person to her." Sesshomaru said, cuffing his brother. "You truly are blind, brother mine."

"Yeah, what about the 'American'?" Inuyasha asked, arching a brow and rubbing at the ear that had been hit.

"She is my charge. A godchild. Rin's descendant." He told his brother, sighing. "The swords-woman though, she is beautifully deadly..." He trailed off, looking at the girl in question. She was walking the perimeter of the fence with Kagome.

************** Takagi compound **************

Soichiro Takagi stood next to his wife, Yuriko. Her long auburn hair was bound tightly so as not to get caught up by the enemy. He had asked in passing as to why she did not just cut it off, but she only smiled at him, placed a hand on his arm, and shook her head.

"Darling, my hair is both beautiful and hard to manage. I wouldn't have grown it out for this long if I didn't know how to manage it. I promise it won't get caught in anything. And if it does, I'll just cut it off."

The enemy was the zombies. The zombies were everywhere. Both of them had body armor on. His was a bit thicker than hers, but a bit more flexible. Her armor was a little bit stiffer, each armor was crafted for their specialty. Soichiro used a Japanese Katana, his bulk belied his speed. Yuriko favored her Luger P08 pistol.

"It will be dark soon, Yuriko, we need to get back to the house." He said, frowning as she stared intently at the wall surrounding the compound on the opposing hill. "We will go tomorrow and ask about Saya." He said, laying a hand on her arm.

"Yes, darling. The darkness holds great terrors, both of the living and the dead. Did that recon group report back?" She asked, turning toward him.

"As a matter of fact, they did. It seems that a pack is forming in the east, near Shinbetsu bridge. They are doing their best not to lead them this way, but it seems they are headed this way anyway. And our friends on the next hill over have no idea what is headed their way." He frowned to himself.

"ETA?" She asked, frowning in response to the news.

"About two days if they keep the pace they have been keeping. Maybe less." He said, shaking his head. They had been acting differently since about mid-day. They began gathering in larger groups, those groups moving toward other groups. Before each group gunshots rang out, but the newly dead quickly replaced the finished dead. "I'm worried they are acting in packs." He said, then shook his head at how ridiculous he sounded. "That's crazy right?" He asked his wife, unsure.

"That's how it looks to me too." She affirmed his thought. She then cursed, turning away from the wire traps and heading back up the hill. They had their work cut out for them in the coming days.

********************** A/N *****************

Ok, sorry about the last post. I uploaded the other by mistake. An oversight by me. I'm sorry. Here's your real chapter.


	16. Chapter 16: Dead Light

Ok, so to bring everybody back to earth, myself included, it's time for the next chapter. I'm having some health crises. Ones I didn't realize were an immediate threat. Which actually caused this unfinished chapter to be posted prematurely as Chapter 15, when it was meant to be Chapter 16. My bad. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it though. :) If you want to read the real Chapter 15, go back and read it before reading this one. :)

This health problem is affecting my memory, specifically my memory of what I have posted and haven't posted. So... Umm... I'm sorry. / scratches head sheepishly / yeah... thanks for letting me know that I oopsed with the chapter mix-up. At least you have an idea of what's going on with this chapter :P

********************** Higurashi Shrine ******************************

Saeko smiled down at Alice, the little girl was chasing Zero around the yard, Inuyasha chasing both of them. The dog was panting, a doggy grin on his face, tongue logging out. Alice was laughing, just like little girls should be laughing.

Zero had grabbed a ball and had been running around in circles, dodging through trees and around small bushes as he was chased. Inuyasha was chasing the girl with happiness in his heart.

Inuyasha stopped his run, changed direction, caught up both girl and pup, spinning them around and around with a laugh from him and a squeal of laughter from her.

"Please, keep it down. We don't want to attract company. They are both deadly and malodorous." Saya said from her perch on the back porch with a smile. The book in her hand was a different one from the morning. It was one of the second in a series of survivalist novels.

"So much for being worried about Zero not liking you." Alice said, grinning as Zero launched himself up into Inuyasha's arms and began licking him all over the face. He petted the dog with great affection, scratching him behind the ear.

Zero's tongue lolled out of his mouth, doggy grin in place.

************ Kohta ************

Kohta was standing on guard duty at the window on the second floor. His gun was propped up against the railing, supported by a tripod stand.

It was a modified sniper rifle with an extra-long non-digital scope, a beauty by any gun standard with it's long, sleek barrel, the triple load magazine with hollow points would shred anything within a 20 meter radius.

The laughter from the yard was a sound that brought lightness to his heart. He took secret pleasure in the fact that he had guard duty with Saya in only a few hours. It was going to be a great day.

Movement from a way's off caught his attention. He thought, for just a moment, that it could have been a group of humans. Kouga had been running about, searching for survivors and getting to head in the direction of the shrine. They had taken a vote and all of them were excited to begin to help others who were survivors.

************** Sesshomaru and Gabrielle ********************

Gabrielle grinned up at the Youkai Lord, and Sesshomaru was looking back at her with a mixture of amusement and confusion. They had been talking since the sun had come up and their rotation had come up. Sesshomaru had been pestering her with questions, which she refused to answer. Telling him that spoilers are bad for his health and that he had told her that himself before she had left from America.

He was somewhat amused at the American girl who had somehow already captured his heart. He felt as if she were a daughter, almost as if she were Rin herself. The human child was both perplexing and amusing at the same time.

Gabrielle looked at him, grinning a lopsided smile. "You like this, don't you?" She asked, holding a hand out to him as she stood.

He took her hand and stood without pulling on it. "What does that mean?"

"You like that I'm not afraid of you. That I can handle myself and I don't need your help. And that I know it." She smirked at him, letting his hand go. "And that I can beat you up." She said, grinning.

"I don't think so. You are foolish to believe that." He said, baring claws.

"Want to bet?" She asked, smirking.

"What are we betting?" he asked, frowning.

"Oh, how about dinner. If I win, I want you to serve me dinner, if you win, I'll serve you dinner." Gabrielle said, smiling, hands on her hips as she shifted toward him, looking up at him.

"Hm... ok. When are we starting?" Sesshomaru asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, it's already started." She said, grinning as she shifted a little closer.

As he raised his foot to step back, she reached forward, pulling the lifted foot up toward her chest. "What?" Sesshomaru asked, before his back hit the platform, his leg pinned between them. She was fast, insanely fast, she'd pulled his leg out from under him, pushed him back, and pulled the other leg with her foot. She had also, somehow, managed to pin his arm behind his back during the landing.

"And now you owe me dinner." Gabrielle smiled in his face before rolling off of him. "And that was way too easy."

Both of them started chuckling, laying with their backs on the blanking of the platform, He shifted so that his arm was free.

**************** Kagome and Saya *******************

Saya was walking with Kagome, counter-clockwise to Sesshomaru and Gabrielle. Kagome with a bow, Saya with a small handgun. "You seem very comfortable with all of this... this insanity." Saya told Kagome.

"My life for the last several years has been full of demons trying to kill me, time travel, and killing the same person over and over again. And add to that I have my previous incarnation wandering around trying to steal my soul. So, a plague of flesh eating zombies, not really high on my freak out meter." Kagome said, shrugging a bit.

"Wait a minute. Time travel is impossible..." Saya said, stopping, hands on her hips, pigtails bouncing.

"That kind of depends on this thing called a Shikkon Jewel. It was shattered years ago after a demon tore it out of my side. It was shattered later and we've been collecting the pieces since that happened. Other demons have taken them, used them, sometimes on themselves, sometimes on others, like Kohaku, Sango's brother." She motioned toward the woman on what was becoming popularly known as the lower gate platforms.

"Wow. You must be really stupid to believe all that crap." Saya smirked.

Kagome grinned at the girl in the glasses. "Kouga." She said, no louder than the conversational tone she'd had with Saya mere moments before.

"Yes, priestess Kagome?" Kouga said, appearing with seemingly no warning nor any approach.

"Please demonstrate the power of the Shikkon Jewels in your legs for my friend in the pink hair." Kagome said, smiling.

"Of course." Kouga grinned, "Can I take her with me?"

"Saya, would you like to go for a ride?" Kagome asked as Kouga knelt with his back to the girls.

"Um. Sure." Saya frowned. "What does he want me to do?" She asked Kagome quietly.

"One, he can hear you. And two, he is offering to take you on a safe, but fast and exhilarating ride around the immediate area." Kagome motioned toward the wolf demon's back. "Be careful, and be quick." Kagome warned.

"Yeah, yeah. I've got it. She's lighter than you." He looked back at Kagome.

She air-cuffed him and walked off. "Ass!" She called after him as he sped away.

"Kagome!" Saya yelped as Kouga leapt from the ground onto the wall. "OH!" She yelped again as he jumped again from the wall to the roof of the next building, before speeding away.

"Gabrielle?" Shippo called out, jumping from the roof onto her head. She put a hand up to pat him on the head. "There's something coming this way.."

"What direction, Shippo? And, more importantly, what is the something?" Gabrielle asked, hands moving to her sheaths for her dual kodatchi.

"That way, toward the other hill. There's a woman leading a bunch of men with weapons like the one that guy on the roof has. A lot of them." Shippo tensed as Gabrielle pulled him from her head.

"Did you get an idea on where they were headed? Gabrielle asked.

"I think... I think they are coming here." Gabrielle smiled down at the kitsune.

"Good job, Shippo, Please keep an eye on our party guests as well as keeping an eye out for another wandering horde." Gabrielle tossed the demon upward, onto the balcony.

"Group meeting!" Gabrielle called out. "God Tree. Sesshomaru, can you manage the wall for a minute?" Since it wasn't really a question, Sesshomaru gave her a nod and turned back to his task.

Saeko, Takashi, Rei, Miroku, Sango, Souta, Inuyasha, Miss Marikawa, Kohta, Kaede and Jinenji all met at the tree, wearing masks of both confusion and worry.

"We have a potential problem." She told them as they looked at her.

"That's actually new?" Souta asked, hand on his hip.

Inuyasha crouched slightly, preparing for a fight.

"So, what's actually coming?" Sango asked, frowning a bit.

"We have a group of humans coming in our direction. We need to decide as a group whether to be friendly or not. '' Gabrielle said, slightly smiling.

Kagome was slightly aggravated, most of the Inuyasha group showed signs of agitation. The two groups were getting along fine, the problem ran toward trying, democratically, to solve any given problem.

A leader needed to be elected from each group. One to make decisions in a crisis. Gabrielle frowned. "So, we need two leaders. One for the Higurashi group, one for the other group. These two will be in charge in case of emergency."

"Ok, well until we do that, we need to figure out how we are going to deal with the humans." Kaede interjected.

"Um... Guys?" Shippo asked from the roof.

"Yes, Shippo?" Sango asked, looking up.

"There's another herd headed this way, from the other side." He said, pointing toward the opposite the direction of the Human group.

"Ok, I have to say, we need to get this other group behind the walls and then take cover or kill this herd." Saeko said, hand going to her hilt.

************ With Saya and Kouga ***************

"Um. We need to get back to the shrine. If they haven't seen this yet, we really need to let them know what is going on." She pointed at the horde of zombies headed their way.

"Yeah. I think so." Kouga said, snarling. He turned them and raced back toward the shrine.

*********** Closer toward dusk ***************8

Surrounded by armored men and women, Yuriko and Soichiro were walking double-time toward the house on the hill opposite theirs. Both were in black body armor, both carried their weapons unsheathed. They saw movement on the wall surrounding the compound. Three walking on what could only be highly placed wall platform.

They were double-timing it up the hill, rushing the sun. It should only be a five minute walk from here, but anything could happen and, given the circumstances, probably would.

"Darling, we need to hurry." Yuriko told Soichiro.

"Gentlemen, let's pick up the pace." He said softly to the headset inside of his helmet, which was met with a collective grunt as all of them pushed themselves just a little bit faster. They were only a few meters from the wall.

"Oi!" a voice called down. It was a small, brown haired child. He hopped down from the wall effortlessly.

The act was both confusing and alarming. The child hit the ground with no impact.

"Shippo, who is it?" A voice called down from above from a thin, black haired teen with a sword at her belt. She smiled down at him.

"They smell like Saya." He said, sniffing the air a bit. "A lot like Saya."

"We are the Takagi's. Saya is our daughter." Soichiro said, kneeling in front of the young boy. Shippo turned around, startling all of the men aorund the couple, and the couple themselves. There was a tail, a big, bushy tail attached to the kid. Soichiro thought for a moment that it was a decorative tail, until it moved. He jumped up and back, his wife's arm steadying him.

"Mom! Dad!" Saya cried out, appearing on the wall, on the back of a brown haired guy in ancient clothing. Another girl appeared, her hair still flowing in residual wind as they landed on the wall, she was being carried by a silver haired boy with dog ears on his head.

Kagome called over her shoulder, "Friendlies. Let's get them inside before that herd gets here." She called back to Jinenji. He moved a tongue-in-groove wall section up and out of the way and stood back silently.

"Get in here, now. We've got trouble headed this way." Kagome called down, motioning them inside.

Yuriko looked at Soichiro, shrugged her shoulders, and then nodded. Soichiro smiled at her behind his visor, then ordered the men into the compound.

"Mom!" Saya cried out, Shippo had run inside when the wall had opened. "Oh god, where have you been?" Saya leapt into her mom's arms.

"Oh, honey, we've been doing kind of what you've been doing here, only ours is wire and not wood. We spotted you over here a couple of days ago, we waited to come because you were safe, and we were not quite safe. We've been so worried." Yuriko said, almost crushing her daughter to her chest.

"I've worried about you too, mom. Have you seen Takashi's family?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"No, darling. I'm sorry." She said, looking at Takashi, who had run over when the wall was being moved. 

He nodded, then looked away.

"We need to assess the situation coming from the west." Kouga interrupted the others, frowning.

**************** A/N *************************

Yup. It had a scene in it, it was cute. And again, I apologize for the mix-up.


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